Weight of The World
by owelpost
Summary: DISCONTINUED!   Dyson struggles with the hand he's been dealt by the duplicitous Norn. Bo must stay focused if the succubus is to succeed as Champion. Lauren battles her own insecurities.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer_: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual. I ripped off this disclaimer.

_Warning_: Contains spoilers for season two.

_Summary_: Dyson struggles with the hand he's been dealt by the duplicitous Norn. Kenzi must help Bo stay focused if the succubus is to succeed as Champion. Lauren battles her own insecurities. This story also features Cleo Silsbury. She is introduced in my story "Erised". May be re-rated M at a later date.

_Author's Note_: This is a more or less a sequel to "Erised", but I think you can read this without having read that (don't shoot me if that's not true—just go read Erised. :P) . I was planning on taking my time with this one, but I decided to post before canon completely effs up everything I want to achieve with the story. ;) I hope you enjoy!

**Weight of the World**

_by owelpost_

· x ·

Cleo Silsbury shivered. The chill was not in the air; it came from within. She drew the material of her hoodie closer about her face and peered around the corner. Merely bearing witness to the atrocities before her went against everything that she stood for, but there were too many fae in one area to singlehandedly engage. Even as an Erised with the ability to absorb any creature's gift for a limited time—sometimes with devastating consequences—her hands were figuratively tied.

Choking on barely contained rage, Cleo continued to watch. She would need to make an accurate report to the Ash if they had any hope of curbing the ever more aggressive explosions of violence that seemed to be cropping up.

Several feet away, six dark fae surrounded a young light fae couple. There might have been a Mesmer among the onlookers because the female of the couple looked to be a puppet whose strings were being pulled by someone else. The young woman regarded her mate with obvious terror and grief while needling and berating him. Her words and actions definitely did not match her facial expressions as evidenced by the tears, brought on by involuntary duplicity, which leaked down her face.

Cleo's stomach threatened revolt when someone handed the young woman a knife and the puppeteer proceeded to make her use it. At that point she turned away, unable to bear witness. Walking away without helping the young man was proving to be one of the hardest things she had ever had to endure. Head down, Cleo slipped further into the shadows and made haste for a well-lit street where she might hail a cab to take her to the nearest train station.

If this was happening in a small northern town of Ontario there was no telling what would be happening in the bigger cities of the province. She needed to get back to Toronto as fast as public transit could take her.

· x ·

Coffee gurgled merrily in the background, filling the kitchen with a wonderful aroma. For the past five years few things in life had brought Doctor Lauren Lewis pleasure. The scent of freshly brewed coffee had previously topped the miniscule list. Coffee's reign had only recently been upset by something—_someone_—that blew the entire list away, magically making everything in Lauren's life seem decadent.

Her fingers found the hollow of her throat as heat rose to her cheeks. The soft touch of Bo's lips still lingered there. The succubus had stirred only marginally as Lauren shifted on the bed, shutting off the alarm before it could go off. The woman had reached across Lauren to pull her close, pressing a kiss to her skin before drifting back to sleep. Lauren had carefully extricated herself, slipping from Bo's bed to find her fastidiously arranged pile of clothing. She crept silently into the bathroom to change. Afterward she had come downstairs to plug in the coffee maker, having prepared it the night before with freshly ground beans, a pinch of salt to cut the bitterness, and filtered water.

Bo had insisted that Lauren stay with her for the past couple of nights. Ever since they had run into an Erised at the Dal Riata, Bo could not stand to be apart from Lauren longer than their everyday routines called for. Lauren, for the most part, had been delighted to oblige her lover, but sometimes guilt crept in, putting a damper on the high.

It had been harder to adjust than Lauren suspected. The Erised had removed her ethereal ties to her previous girlfriend, Nadia, making it possible for her relationship with Bo to blossom. Try as she might, though, Lauren simply couldn't let go of the guilt she felt at her original betrayal of Nadia. While Nadia had been in a coma Lauren had desperately sought the means to awaken her, but five years had proven a long time to go without the physical and emotional affection of another person. At the height of Lauren's despair, Bo had exploded into her life.

The succubus had enthralled Lauren from the first moment they met, when the doctor had been commanded to examine the exotic creature in her laboratory. It had only been a matter of time before Lauren's craving for intimacy had overridden her better judgment, compelling her to give in to the succubus' considerable charm.

As they grew closer, Lauren had bungled their relationship with a series of extreme mistakes, however well-intentioned, that should have driven them apart—and had in fact done so on more than one occasion. Bo, nevertheless, proved more forgiving than anyone Lauren had ever met. Somehow the succubus continued to support her regardless of the doctor's fundamental compulsion for secrecy. Bo had even helped Lauren discover the clue that lead to Nadia's freedom from the shaman's curse, which had, apparently, been the cause of her coma.

Nadia's awakening had forced them apart. Lauren tried her best to devote herself to Nadia, but ultimately failed. Her heart belonged to Bo and no matter what she tried to do she could not make herself let the succubus go. When Bo had touched the Erised with her gift, setting an unstoppable course of events into action, Lauren and Nadia's relationship had been dissolved as a consequence. Lauren often felt as though it was a cop-out and guilt sprang up occasionally, reminding her that she hadn't suffered any consequences for her indiscretions. And to think this was the least of her worries.

Bo continued to find trouble wherever she went. Lauren likened the succubus to a rare earth magnet, drawing danger and chaos—and conversely devotion—to her with unprecedented strength. This time all of the fae were embroiled in the brewing tempest and somehow Bo had been lofted as their champion, which Lauren found fundamentally terrifying. She'd just found Bo; to lose her to a war that made no sense was too frightening to dwell on. She had to suppress the thoughts immediately to prevent herself from melting into a quivering mess.

With a shaky sigh, Lauren checked her watch. It was nearly time for her first, albeit extremely early, appointment of the day. Pouring steaming coffee into her travel mug, Lauren shouldered her duffle bag and went out the front door of Bo's dilapidated, yet oddly enchanting residence.

· x ·

The problem with fighting humans was that it felt more like practicing tai chi forms than actual combat. Dyson could dodge his opponent's fist with ease, but threw up an elbow to deflect it instead. He followed with a lazy right hook. She managed to block it with a grunt. She skipped back and they circled one another. He watched her bounce up and down, switching her balance from foot to foot. Her eyes were wide with rapt attention. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, chest rising and falling with every adrenalized heartbeat.

She came at him again, this time with a quick kick that connected with his calf. He stumbled forward. She backed away. He straightened. She punched. This time he dodged. They circled again.

He saw her eyes drop slightly before she hunched down and propelled herself at him, arms shoulder width apart. He widened his stance, bracing for the impact, ready for full body contact. At the last second she pulled up and made herself small enough to get inside his defenses. It was a brilliantly executed feint. She grabbed the sides of his head, gripping just under his ears. She stepped back and brought his face down to meet her knee. She used the rest of his forward momentum to flip him onto his back.

He dispelled some of the shock of the impact by slapping his arm out to the side. She straddled his midsection and rained succinct blows on his face. He took his time raising his arm to block. At the look of sheer determination on her face, he couldn't help but laugh. He tapped the mat three times.

"Okay, okay!" he shouted. His opponent stopped moving and cocked her head to the side. Her chest heaved from the exertion and sweat trickled from the side of her face down her neck. "That's enough for today."

She scrambled back and stood up, offering a hand. He gladly accepted and she helped pull him to his feet.

"Sorry about your face," she said as she grabbed a towel from a nearby bench.

He shrugged. "You fought well."

She acknowledged his praise with a curt nod and departed the gymnasium.

Dyson sighed. Taking his own towel from the bench, he draped it across his shoulders and sat down. His face was tender, but he'd suffered worse. Despite what she thought, her blows had barely tickled. They had only been sparring for a few weeks and she was still weak, but she learned quickly and she was clever. She also had surprising agility working in her favor. Although she would never be a match for a fae opponent, were it to come down to a real fight, he suspected she might be able to manufacture an escape. And with what was coming, he thought that was the best any of them could hope for.

His thoughts turned to Bo and he growled angrily. She had told him that Lachlan, the Ash, had asked her to be his champion—their champion—in the coming battle against a creature called the Garuda. Dyson had been furious to hear it and had tried to talk Bo out of it. The succubus was stubborn and refused to listen to reason and it had been Trick who had finally convinced Dyson to leave it alone.

It was times like these when Dyson felt the loss of his love for Bo most acutely. He had worked hard at forcing her to the fringes of his life with the hopeful inevitability of sparing her feelings. When she had turned to Lauren, Dyson had at first bristled. As time passed and he saw that Lauren was helping ease Bo's pain, he had struggled to come to terms. He was not the sort of man to prevent someone's happiness to assuage his own misery, but it was a daily effort that was growing increasingly more difficult.

If he still had her love, her trust, he was convinced he could reason with the succubus to let Lachlan and other members of the Light take care of the Garuda. There was no sense on dwelling on those thoughts, however, and he couldn't change what had happened between them. His only option was to support Bo in whatever way he could. If that included training humans indentured to the Light in combat, so be it.

· x ·

Bo shuffled sleepily around the kitchen. She tried not to bump into anything and cause a ruckus which might awaken Kenzi, who had drunk a whole lot of wine and passed out on the couch. The girl was positively grouchy after benders like that and Bo was loathe to deal with it this morning.

She had awoken alone. Again. Lauren always managed to slip out of bed before Bo could even fathom attempting to regain consciousness. Ever since discovering that sleeping with humans didn't necessarily mean waking up next to a corpse, Bo had become increasingly fond of snuggling. It was difficult to accomplish, however, when her partner wasn't there to snuggle with.

She had to smile, though, at the little note next to the percolator, written in Lauren's beautiful, precise hand. It mentioned sticky buns that the doctor had stashed in the oven to prevent Kenzi from eating them all, and that she had left the coffee on. At the bottom Lauren had drawn a cute little heart with an arrow through it, making Bo forget all about the fact that she had abandoned her at oh dark hundred in the morning.

Kenzi's loud, dramatically miserable groan brought Bo's attention back, although she couldn't wipe the stupid grin from her face. The younger woman rolled off the couch and half crouched-half walked to the kitchen counter, hoisting her tiny body onto a barstool. She clutched her head and groaned again.

Bo rolled her eyes. "Good morning."

"What's so good about it?" Kenzi wondered.

"Well, Lauren made coffee."

"Not sold yet. What else?"

"There are sticky buns."

Kenzi perked up at that, and then evidently regretted it because she winced and went back to squishing her temples with the heels of her hands. Bo chuckled softly and set about making them each a cup of coffee. She also went to the fridge and dug out a bottle of water. She handed the water and a couple Advil to her partner in crime.

"You really gotta quit drinking so much," Bo said.

"No way. Just get me to the Dal so Hale can fix me right up."

Ever since she had discovered that a Siren's song could be used to whistle away alcohol induced cranial damage, Kenzi had sought him out whenever overindulgence threatened to make sunglasses her best friend.

"Kenzi, Hale is not your personal hang over cure. You keep running to him anytime you have a headache and the boy's going to start expecting something in return," Bo teased. "Drink water."

Kenzi's face contorted as she sipped the flavorless fluid. She tipped her head back and popped the Advil in her mouth, choking them down. "Ugh!" she said, then reached out to Bo and flexed her fingers in a 'gimme' fashion.

The succubus shook her head at her friend and opened the oven door to pull out the secreted baked goods. She removed one from the plate and plunked it on a piece of paper towel for Kenzi. "Mmm, sticky sweet carbs!" Kenzi sang as she stuffed a large chunk in her mouth.

Bo moved around the counter to sit next to her friend. She put one cup of coffee in front of Kenzi, who smiled gratefully. Clutching her cup, Bo blew on the surface of the steaming liquid before taking a delicate sip. She moaned and her eyes fluttered closed. "God, that's heaven," she murmured.

"Barista girl strikes again," Kenzi grumbled.

Bo playfully swatted at the younger woman. "So, I'm going to the Dal to meet Dyson in a little while. You wanna tag?"

"'Course. Can't leave your lady lumps to their own devices, now can I? Never can tell what your succubum will get up to."

"You're insufferable," Bo said around a smile.

"Am not. What I am is possibly still drunk."

Bo scoffed. "Besides, it's only eight o'clock in the morning. What trouble could conceivably find me at this ungodly hour?"

· x ·


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note_: You guys are a tough crowd. I guess I'm gonna have to step up my game. Maybe not in this chapter, though. Heh. I'll try for the next one.

· x ·

"Here are the files you requested, Dr. Lewis. I also took the liberty of scouring the library." A young human intern set a box of notes and books down on the corner of Lauren's desk. He patted the top book affectionately as she looked up. "There's some stuff on the restricted list that might interest you, but I can't access it. I made notes, though, so you'd know what to look for if you wanted to."

Lauren smiled distractedly. "Thank you, James."

He beamed and waited perhaps a beat too long before realizing she had already gone back to studying the monitor in front of her. In peripheral, Lauren saw his shoulders roll forward in dejection as he stepped back. His eagerness to please her had been evident and she had dismissed him with a half-hearted thanks. Feeling guilty, Lauren pushed back from her desk and stood up. He had already crossed half the lab by the time she spoke.

"James?"

He turned, a puzzled look overshadowing his disappointment. "Yeah?"

She gestured to the box of books on her desk. "Are you busy this afternoon? I could use a research assistant on this project."

The truth was that the books were actually very important to her and she didn't relish the idea of sharing them with anyone. She couldn't wait to crack them open, to spend hours poring over them. The idea of someone else touching them made her personal green monster rear its ugly little head. She wrangled with jealousy and ultimately won.

Given the way his eyes lit up with excitement, Lauren knew she had made the right decision. He all but scampered closer to her. "I'm free now," he said.

Lauren chuckled at his enthusiasm. She patted his arm. "Okay. Find an empty conference room and get started. I just have a few things I need to finish up before I can join you."

James nearly trembled as she picked up the box of books and delicately delivered them back to his awaiting embrace. As he departed, Lauren couldn't help the grin that spread across her features. She idly wondered if that was how she had appeared when she'd been younger. She decided she definitely had and her grin stretched wider.

As she sat back down, the cell phone in her pocket vibrated. She took the phone out and looked at it, puzzled by the unknown number showing on the screen. Lauren thought about the piles of work she had yet to do and contemplated ignoring the call. With things as precarious as they were out in the world, Lauren decided it would be irresponsible to let the call go to voicemail, especially considering only a small handful of people had her private number. One of them could be in trouble.

"Hello?" She listened quietly, a sense of unease quickly burning through her good mood. "Can you come here? No. Don't do that. Listen, I'll send a car. Stay at Union Station and wait for it, okay? Cleo? Thank you for calling me. I'll let the Ash know to expect you."

Lauren's hand trembled as she set the phone down. The presence of an Erised was bound to make everyone at the compound nervous. A stigma was attached to them due to the lack of knowledge. They were feared and reviled. Erised were known to be able to capture any fae's ability, rendering their victims, for all intents and purposes, human for the duration. What Erised fed on, however, was their prey's most base desires. To that end most Erised had been hunted to extinction. To Lauren's knowledge Cleo Silsbury and one other were the only two remaining. The other had been missing for a long time, prompting Cleo into a never ending search for her kin.

When they had met Cleo, Lauren and Bo had learned the hard way what an Erised was capable of. Consequently, Lauren was one of the very few who had witnessed Cleo's innate gifts at work. In that time, she had gained a healthy respect for the woman, even if she hadn't entirely been able to forgive Cleo for what she had done to her.

Lauren had made a gesture of friendship, however, as an exercise in absolution and to aid in healing her own guilty conscience. She was glad she had, because it would be better to have an Erised on their side, rather than working against them.

The air felt thicker as Lauren worked through her dread to pick up the phone. She first placed a call to the garage attendant to send a driver for Cleo. Next she called Lachlan.

· x ·

Dyson laid his pool cue on the table and glared at Hale as he threw a twenty down next to it. The Siren had beaten him yet again, leading him to realize how distracted he'd really become.

"You got a burr stuck to your butt fur, or something? I never beat you twice. Hell, I rarely beat you _ever_," Hale said, following his friend to the bar where he paid for a round. Dyson raised his eyebrows at the thought of drinking a mid-morning shot, prompting Hale to shrug and say, "Well, it is five o'clock somewhere, isn't it? Besides, you look like you could use one."

"I have a lot on my mind," Dyson confessed, tossing back the shot. The pretty blonde bartender who replaced Trick when he wasn't around raised the bottle and winked at him. The shifter shook his head, refusing a second round. The first still burned his gullet.

"Hmm," Hale hummed as he eyed the bartender. "A piece of that would go a long way to solving anyone's problems."

Before he met Bo, Dyson might have agreed. Now? Not a chance in hell. He didn't like to admit it but he was having a hard time stomaching blondes these days. As an unfortunate side-effect of coming to terms with Bo's relationship with Lauren, Dyson had begun avoiding blonde women as sexual partners. Not that it mattered because there were plenty of brunette and redheaded fish in the sea. And he fished a lot, trying to somehow fill the hollow inside him. His exploits had the adverse effect, making him surly. He had even failed miserably at his chance with Ciara, a woman he once thought he loved. He suppressed a growl and clenched his fists.

"No? All the more for me," Hale said, still appreciating the bartender's voluptuous curves. At Dyson's insistent silence, Hale turned. "Seriously, bro, what gives?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Dyson snapped.

Hale put up his hands, startled by the fervor of Dyson's tone. "Fine. Sorry I asked."

Dyson thawed a little. "I'm just trying to deal with some personal crap right now."

"Succubus related?" A sharp glance confirmed Hale's suspicions and the siren nodded understandingly. "Look, you don't have to explain. That woman would be a handful for anyone."

"It's not her fault, really. I made a deal with the devil and now that I know the consequences it's too late to renege."

Dyson could see that Hale felt for him, but he didn't want his buddy's sympathy. The only thing that would help him now would be to break the Norn's hold over him and he couldn't fathom a way to do that. In a delicious twist of irony one of the few people who could possibly help him with a viable answer was Lauren herself. As a walking, talking Fae encyclopedia she could likely find some sort of loophole for him.

Saving him from travelling further down _that_ dark corridor of thought, Kenzi shambled up to the bar. Most of her face was eaten up by a large pair of sunglasses, which she slid down her nose to regard Dyson. "Whoa. Who pissed in your cornflakes?"

Noting her extremely bloodshot eyes, Dyson shook his head. "It's not _my_ cornflakes I'd be worried about, Kenz. You look to be dragging ass this morning. Drink too much wine last night?"

"There is never enough wine to appease that lush," Bo piped up from behind Dyson. He had been expecting her, but the sound of her voice in such close proximity startled him. The succubus put one hand on his shoulder and leaned forward to finger the empty shot glass on the bar. He could feel the warmth of her chest pressed against his back.

Kenzi noticed the empty glass, too, and said, "Dude, it's only eleven."

He breathed deeply and felt his stomach sour with regret. He could smell Lauren all over Bo. He wanted to say "yeah, well my hell starts the moment I open my eyes," but refrained. Instead he clenched his teeth, struggling for control. Shoving off from the bar to get away from Bo, who had to move quickly to the side to evade, Dyson gathered up the case files and moved down the bar to spread them out. The Norn may have taken his love for Bo, but she hadn't taken any of his other emotions and those were the ones he was having the most trouble dealing with now.

Bo, oblivious to the fact that she was the source of his discomfort, snorted, "You don't waste time getting down to business."

"Not when it comes to fae casualties, Bo," he grated.

Bo and Kenzi shared a glance, but wisely kept their mouths shut. Bo defaulted to a professional persona that she normally reserved for prospective clients. Kenzi retreated to whisper to Hale, likely to beg him to charm her headache away.

"What am I looking at?" she asked.

"Sprites. These ones are dark fae. They are nasty little buggers that have been plaguing The Pantages Theatre for the last century. I think one of them even had a thing for Neve Campbell when she danced in Phantom of the Opera; used to leave dirty notes in the dancers' dressing room for her. The authorities never did figure out who her stalker was."

Bo looked puzzled. "Do I want to know why you know that?"

He shrugged. "Probably not."

She took the file from his hands and peered closer at the photo. "What's wrong with them?"

"They've been petrified," he replied. "See the ashen pallor of their skin? Normally they're a bluish-green colour."

"What could do this?"

"That's what we need to find out."

Kenzi chose that moment to return with renewed vigor, the sunglasses perched on top of her head. "Hey, those are really lifelike garden gnomes. Where can I get one?"

Bo snickered. Dyson snatched the photo away and stared sternly down his nose at the human. "They're Sprites, Kenzi, little dark fae that were once alive. And no, you can't have one."

"Hold on, hold on… if they're dark fae why are we dealing with this?" Kenzi asked.

"The Ash asked me to as a favor to the Morrigan. I guess she's got her hands full, too. Some really bad stuff has been happening to both sides and no one really knows what's going on. For once both sides are attempting to cooperate with one another."

"Can I take the file? I'll go ask Lauren if she can tell us anything," Bo asked, holding out her hand. At the mention of Lauren's name, Dyson's nostrils flared but he handed the file over readily enough.

"I sent the bodies to the lab. She may have already begun the workup," he said in a carefully clipped tone.

Bo hugged the file to her chest and shifted from foot to foot, as though she had something more to say but didn't quite know how to broach whatever was bothering her. Eventually she reached out and slid a hand down his arm. "Are you all right, Dyson? I'm worried about you."

Schooling his features into an expression he hoped passed as nonchalant Dyson said, "I'm fine; nothing to worry about."

Disbelief registered on her face, but Bo merely nodded. The stubborn shifter would tell her what was bothering him when and if he felt it was necessary. Until then, Bo had enough on her plate to last one succubus a lifetime. There was no sense in adding more complicated drama.

When she and Kenzi had gone, Dyson returned to the bar. Under Hale's watchful eye, he ordered two more shots and downed them rapidly. He had his work cut out for him if he planned to cull his emotional baggage.

· x ·


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note**_: I'm a bad human. I forgot to thank my beta-readers. SGAConvert and Rabastan04 have graciously donated their time to make this story better. Much appreciated!

· x ·

"Don't touch anything."

Kenzi—oblivious to the disapproving looks of the fae Lauren employed—flitted around the lab blatantly snooping with her hands purposely clasped together behind her back. She cheekily waggled her eyebrows at Bo when the woman frowned at her. Bo shook her head and left the young woman to her own devices.

A nurse directed Bo to a conference room down the hall where she would likely find Lauren. She strolled like she owned the place, peering into various rooms through windows and open doors as she went. Most of the rooms held medical equipment that seemed pretty cut and dry. A few things were exotic looking, sparking her interest enough to make mental notes to ask Lauren about them later.

Seeing Lauren in "work mode" was a delightful perk of being the Ash's champion given that she now enjoyed pretty much free run of the compound. Bo intended to take full advantage of it. She paused outside a partially closed door when she heard Lauren's distinctive timbre.

"Biological transmutation is impossible. The theory blatantly disregards basic physical laws," Lauren was saying. She had the sound of someone who was exercising vast amounts of patience, making Bo that much more curious as to whom she was speaking. Normally Lauren reserved that tone for when she spoke to Bo and Kenzi about some scientific something or other.

Poking her head around the door to glance surreptitiously into the room, Bo saw Lauren perched on the end of a long conference table; one foot was planted firmly on the floor and the other on a chair in front of her. In her lap she cradled a text book, which she rapidly flipped through, shaking her head.

But it wasn't Lauren who caught Bo's attention, it was the young man seated at the other end of the table. Or rather the syrupy force of nervous, geeky libido he exuded. It permeated the room, surrounding Lauren like a cocoon before sluggishly leaking out the door. Even if Bo hadn't already switched her senses into high gear in anticipation of seeing Lauren, she still would have noticed the fog. It hit her with a force akin to that of an F5 tornado. Her mouth flooded in anticipation. Then, as quickly, her lips were pulling back from her teeth in a silent, possessive snarl as the reality of the situation sank in: the young man was lusting after Lauren in a huge way.

"This stuff is too new, James. It's not what I'm looking for," she said, snapping the book shut while sliding gracefully off the table. "Look at the older books. If the paper looks yellow and the pages smell musty, that's what you want."

Lauren handed the book back to him and their fingers touched, causing a wave of desire to roll off the kid and crash full force into Bo, who had to stumble back into the hallway to escape. She caught the jamb and swung so that her back slammed against the wall beside the door. She pressed a hand to her heaving chest, trying to calm herself down. She screwed her eyes shut. It was an unusual sensation to have her emotions waging battle with one another. The need to fuck, to rip out throats: it was all very overwhelming. The latter was startlingly uncharacteristic.

"Bo? Everything okay?" Lauren, having stepped into the hallway to see what the commotion was about, sounded concerned. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi," Bo said. Her voice didn't break on the tiny word. She was off to a good start. "I, uh, just need a minute here." She could smell Lauren now, the scent of Japanese cherry blossoms. Her struggle intensified. Bo opened her eyes. To Lauren's credit she didn't flinch as azure pinned her.

"Do we need to go somewhere?" Lauren's tone was even, unaffected. Bo had forgotten how different Lauren was here; how rigid. It didn't jive with what Bo thought Lauren was suggesting.

Processing seemed beyond Bo's capabilities at that moment, so the doctor merely took the succubus' arm and dragged her down the hall. She directed Bo through a door into a small, sparse lab that had one microscope and a rather monstrous computer. Locking the door behind them, Lauren leaned against it, stuffed her hands into her lab coat and waited.

In the space of a heartbeat Bo had closed the distance between them. Hands on Lauren's hips, Bo dragged the doctor firmly against her. A bruising kiss that stole Lauren's breath set her trembling. Then Bo pushed her back against the door, holding her firmly while her fingers attempted to gain access to Lauren's pants.

Lauren broke the kiss, gasping. "Bo. Stop."

The brunette ignored her. Lauren's zipper was no match for the questing succubus. Normally, Lauren herself was no match. Today she would have to be. Lauren couldn't do this. She wanted to; God, how she wanted to but her needs would have to wait. There was too much at stake.

Bo's fingers found their mark making the doctor moan in desire—and regret. She wrapped remorseful fingers around Bo's wrist and yanked the succubus' hand clear.

Stunned, Bo looked up, her teeth clenched in affront. Tendons ridged along her neck at the strain of reigning emotions. Blue daggers stabbed into Lauren and for a moment she thought the succubus might use her abilities to bend her to her will. Then Bo blinked. And blinked again.

One more blink brought Bo's breathing under tenuous control. "What's wrong?"

"I can't do this, Bo," Lauren said. Bo looked at her glistening fingers as if to say she thought otherwise. The doctor moistened parched lips and shook her head. "Not here. Not right now."

Bo's features became stony, the blue bleeding from her eyes. "This has to do with that _guy_." She spat the last word as though it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Lauren jerked her head, a rapid quiver of confusion crossing her face.

Bo regarded Lauren and believed the other woman's uncertainty, but she couldn't break the resentful wave now that it had begun to crest. "I saw how he looks at you, Lauren." She held up her fingers. "He wants this. He wants you."

Incredulity crashed over Lauren and she began to shake her head in denial. "Do you mean James?" Giggles burbled up from her belly at the preposterous thought. She laughed until she couldn't breathe. At Bo's less than impressed expression, the doctor struggled to stop. "You're serious?"

"His chi was cloying." Bo crossed her arms. That would explain the succubus' sudden carnal reaction. She was responding to her involuntarily fired up libido while attempting to stake her claim on Lauren.

"Oh," Lauren said, failing miserably to articulate a more serious response.

"Who is he?"

"He's just an intern, Bo. A human—probably one of the many the Ash 'saved' from a life of poverty on the street. I asked him to help me with a research project I'm working on. Is this… is it going to be a problem, Bo?"

The succubus looked like she thought it might be, but said, "No, of course not."

"Bo, look at me." When the succubus' eyes met hers, Lauren reassured, "That scrawny kid's got nothing on you."

Lauren moved, wrapping her arms around Bo's waist and resting her head on the succubus' shoulder. She breathed deeply. Bo gave off a faint, unfamiliar scent. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, making Lauren smile. "Can I make it up to you tonight?"

Bo's stiffness seemed to ease a little. "I guess so."

"Good." Stretching up, Lauren placed a kiss on the frustrated succubus' brow. "I really need to get back to work. I assume Dyson sent you here, right? I haven't had a chance to start my workup on the sprites yet. I can't get blood samples because of the petrification and…" Lauren trailed off and backed away from Bo, holding her at arm's length. The brunette's eyes had glazed over. "Never mind, I'll explain later. Are you going to be all right?"

Bo made a vague movement that Lauren took to be affirmation.

"I'll meet you back in the lab, okay?"

"Sure," Bo said.

Placing another chaste kiss on Bo's forehead, Lauren rearranged her clothing, unlocked the door and let herself into the hallway. Bo stood at the door and watched her lover's form retreat.

She waited.

Strung tight as a bow, the succubus bit her lip. Fire burned through her veins. Her eyes teemed blue.

She waited.

Eventually an unsuspecting male fae carrying an armload of charts had the misfortune of walking past the door where Bo lingered.

· x ·


	4. Chapter 4

· x ·

Kenzi hurriedly slammed the lid of the centrifuge when she saw Lauren enter the lab. She tried to hide the thing behind her diminutive body while simultaneously attempting to look innocent of any wrong-doing. Lauren, as usual, barely acknowledged her presence. The doctor glanced her way, offered a weak smile, and then sought out one of her staff.

Kenzi let out the breath she had been holding and promptly clasped her hands behind her back again, whistling nervously as she walked away. If the doc was here, Bo couldn't be far behind. Kenzi waited a good ten minutes before allowing the ants in her pants to get the better of her.

"Yo, Doc," Kenzi interrupted, sidling up to the blonde. She ignored the irritated look the technician gave her.

"I'm sorry, Joan. We can finish this up later," Lauren said to the tech, handing back the chart she'd been flipping through. When the lab geek had wandered away, Lauren folded her arms across her chest and looked expectantly at Kenzi.

"Where's my friencess?"

"Your—what? I swear I need a pocket urban dictionary just to understand you, Kenzi. Can't you just speak English?"

"No need for knicker-knottage, your royal hotness. Where—Is—Bo?" Kenzi asked, slowly enunciating each word.

Lauren rolled her eyes. "I don't know where she is. I thought she was right behind me."

"Normally she is, trailing a disgusting amount of drool…" Kenzi made a gagging motion with her fingers in her mouth before closing her eyes, screwing up her face and flapping her hands. She danced around chanting, "ew, ew, ew," in an effort to rid herself of the mental image.

Patience wearing thin, Lauren was about to ask Kenzi, as politely as she could possibly muster, to knock it off, when the door to the lab slammed open and two burly guards entered followed by a shorter female. The woman wore long jogging pants, sneakers, a hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled tight around her features and slim, leather gloves. It was quite the getup for the heat of the summer and Lauren felt sorry for her.

Kenzi made a strangled coughing noise as she came to an abrupt halt and promptly tucked herself behind Lauren. She peeked around the doctor at the new-comer. "What is she doing here?" Kenzi hissed.

Irritated, Lauren shot Kenzi a look that clearly told her to quit being rude and moved forward to greet the Erised. Without showing any hesitation, the doctor extended her hand. "Cleo. Welcome," Lauren said. When the fae's gloved fingers gripped hers, Lauren covered their hands with her other. The fae guards grunted disgustedly and stepped back.

Cleo laughed at their cowardice. "The Ash wouldn't let me roam the compound without an escort," she explained.

Regarding the two supposedly tough as nails guards, Lauren was amused to see both Ogres were near pissing themselves. Nostrils flared and beads of sweat dotted craggy brows. "You two can go. She's not here to harm us and if we need to go anywhere I will escort her," Lauren said. One of the guards eyed her suspiciously, but his need to escape the vicinity of the Erised outweighed his chagrin at a human ordering him around. They beat a hasty retreat.

"Well, that was pleasant," Cleo muttered.

Lauren frowned, shrugging in apology. "Would you like some water, or something? You must be overheating in those clothes."

Cleo plucked at the neckline of her sweatshirt then pushed the hood back, shaking out long, sweaty locks of auburn hair. She sighed. "Water would be fabulous. I have been wearing these clothes for the last twenty-four hours. I left everything I had at a hotel room in Thunder Bay."

Kenzi, having recovered her brazenness, commented, "I knew something smelled rotten."

Lauren rounded on the young woman, put her hands on her hips and fixed her with a stern glare. "Do you think you could make yourself useful and get a bottle of water out of the employee lunch room?" Pointing to a doorway at the far side of the lab, Lauren shooed Kenzi away. Walking backwards, Kenzi made an 'I'm watching you' gesture to Cleo. Lauren released a breath and returned her attention to Cleo. "Sorry. She hasn't quite forgiven you for surprising Bo the last time you were in town."

There was an awkward silence in which Cleo wondered if Lauren had forgiven her yet, either.

Ignoring the nearly palpable tension in the atmosphere, Cleo said, "You do an awful lot of apologizing for things that are beyond your control, Lauren. Don't worry about Kenzi. I can handle that little fireball."

A quirky grin ghosted Lauren's lips. "I wish we could all say that. Bo loves her, though. That makes her important to me."

Cleo inclined her head as she lowered herself into a nearby chair. "So, how are things?"

"Honestly? Between Bo, work and… other extracurricular activities..." Lauren trailed off, shaking her head. "Uh, things are fine."

"You don't look fine. You look worn out."

Lauren contemplated the futility of complaining about her lot in life. She decided a long time ago that those kinds of thoughts were a waste of precious time. She was also painfully aware that many others were worse off, especially now. So she merely insisted, "I'm well, really. Thank you."

"Sure," Cleo said, attempting to keep disbelief from her voice and therefore betraying her thoughts. Lauren looked a little off, although it wasn't something that a casual observer would discern. Cleo noted that the doctor's blonde hair hung in lackluster waves around shoulders that were subtly rolled forward in fatigue. Dark circles flirted with her eyes muddying their brown depths. Cleo also saw delicate, blackened remnants of tape clinging to the doctor's wrists, which piqued her curiosity. That stuff was hard to get off, regardless of diligent scrubbing. She wondered why Lauren would need to wrap her hands, but out of politeness and respect for the tenuous nature of their relationship, Cleo kept her observations to herself.

"I assume you met with the Ash?" Lauren said, dragging Cleo out of her own thoughts.

"Yes. Thank you for arranging that. I admit I've never met such a pompous prick," Cleo said, keeping her voice low, lest she be overheard by the other fae in the lab. Although a quick glance around revealed she needn't have worried. Miraculously the lab had cleared out with her arrival. In days long ago that fact might have bothered her. These days, however, Cleo was used to solitude.

"He is somewhat ostentatious."

Smiling at Lauren's PC agreement, the Erised opened her mouth to say more but paused when she saw the lab door open.

Bo entered.

Cleo had never seen the colour drain from someone's face so quickly. The doctor stepped back, bumping into an examination table. She had to grip the edge just to keep from slipping to the floor on rubbery legs. Swiftly rising from her chair, Cleo approached Lauren in concern, but the blonde had already recovered and violently waved her away, a wild fury sparking in her eyes.

Confused as to Lauren's reaction to her lover's arrival, Cleo focused on Bo. The succubus was positively glowing. In sharp contrast to Lauren's exhausted appearance, Bo looked invigorated albeit freshly disheveled. The brunette's blouse had been pulled carelessly from her slacks and she carried her suit jacket hooked on two fingers dangling nonchalantly over her shoulder. Her hair was wild as well, as though someone had just run their hands through it.

Cleo felt her stomach clench in sympathy for the doctor. Bo had fed—recently. From someone who wasn't Lauren while Lauren had been in the same building. And the succubus was flaunting it, for reasons Cleo couldn't possibly fathom. Everything about the scene playing out before her felt wrong.

Lauren, for her part, gathered her wits, plastered a poker face over her features and muttered something about needing to be elsewhere. Before Cleo could even say another word, the doctor had disappeared. She looked back at Bo, who raised an eyebrow, accompanied by a tiny shrug of her shoulders, as if wondering what had gotten into the blonde.

"Bo-dacious! Your hair is a mess," Kenzi observed, finally emerging from the staff room with a bottle of water that she tossed to Cleo. She paused and cocked her head to the side. "Hey, where's Lauren?"

· x ·


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note_: This chapter is dedicated to **eblane**. I am always looking forward to your reviews and I appreciate your dedication to the Lost Girl fan fiction community. Thank you!

To all the other people who review and comment: you are equally appreciated! You guys help make writing a pleasure. Please enjoy!

· x ·

_She should be in the lab. _

Sweat mingled with tears and hoarse breaths as she pumped furiously. Her knuckles, raw, ripped and bleeding from repeated contact with canvas, were a distinct contrast against the white of the lab coat she had failed to remove. Blood splattered in creative patterns, an uncomfortable mess that normally would have sent her obsessive compulsive tendencies into action.

Right now none of that mattered. She pounded on the bag, forgetting all of the techniques that Dyson had painstakingly shown her—skills she _knew_ she had impressed him by learning so quickly. She hadn't taped her hands. She wasn't holding the thin metal bars he had insisted she grip to minimize the damaging compression of her knuckles.

_She shouldn't be here. _

She thrust at the bag with another ragged breath.

_She should be examining stony sprites who had ultimately met the end of their malevolent little lives at the hands of some unknown creature._

Lauren wasn't sure where to place her fury. Bo's biological imperatives dictated that she feed regularly, preferably from multiple, strong sources. Rationally, Lauren knew this. She wanted to believe she was prepared for its inevitability. But Bo had thrown it in her face, flaunting the fact that she had sex after Lauren had refused her.

And wasn't that just the crux of the problem? Lauren had refused the succubus, knowing full well what Bo had needed. Bo had come to Lauren—as a lover, as a partner—with the one thing she _required _and Lauren had failed to provide. She could have avoided all this anguish if she had only given Bo what she wanted; what they had _both_ wanted.

Lauren was not often prone to feelings of inadequacy, but she had never been more painfully aware of her human shortcomings than she was right now. Surrounded by powerful beings that quaked at the mere hint of a presence stronger than their own, Lauren felt her own vulnerabilities much more acutely. Her only method to combat the shortfall was to exemplify her strengths. And that meant using science to augment the potency of the fae themselves, because they had to win or there would be no point to anything.

To that end, she should be in the lab doing her part. It was why she had refused Bo in the first place. She had stretched herself too thin and screwed up her priorities. Again. Now she was here in the gym, completely out of control, thrashing a punching bag. And it _had_ to be Dyson who found her clinging to it, sobbing great wracking anguished tears. It was shaping up to be her lucky day.

· x ·

He made the mistake of touching her trembling shoulder as she clutched desperately at the swaying canvas bag. Lauren sprang at him; whatever was bothering her exploding outward in a massive wave. Her thin, lithe body bowled into him, knocking him unexpectedly onto the mat. She stumbled, caught herself and scrambled around, furiously whipping her way out of the cumbersome lab coat as she assumed one of the well-balanced stances he had shown her.

"Get up," she demanded.

Dyson flipped himself backwards into a low crouch. "Lauren?" Something about the way she looked reminded him of a cornered animal.

"Attack me, Dyson," she said, voice low and threatening.

Alarmed, Dyson shook his head as he rose. "You've hurt yourself."

She vaulted forward; landing a solid back-hand across his face that rocked his head to the side and left a smear of her blood across his cheek. He slowly brought his gaze back to her, eyes narrowed. She leapt again, but this time he was ready. He caught her fist in the palm of his hand and held it in a tight grip, constricting her knuckles. It had to hurt, but she clenched her teeth and tried to hit him with her other fist.

"Lauren... come on, cut it out."

He eased his grip and she twisted away from him. They slowly circled one another. Dyson never took his eyes off hers. They were red and swollen, yet glittering with determination. He had never considered that the good doctor could become unhinged, but he briefly wondered now. She was always so calm and rational. This was an out-and-out break from the norm and he had to admit that it unsettled him.

It also sparked compassion.

He had a sneaking suspicion that Bo had pulled something. Whenever heightened emotions came in to play these days, the succubus was never far from the scene of the crime. Hale had been right, the woman was a handful.

Lauren was showing vulnerability, something that was exceedingly uncommon especially in front of him. Their relationship had never been easy, even before they had fallen in love with the same woman, and now it was moving into an entirely different realm. Dyson wasn't sure what to make of it.

He had been surprised when she had approached him weeks ago and asked him to teach her how to fight. She didn't deign to explain herself, just asked him in a no-nonsense manner if he would do it. He had shrugged and agreed as if he didn't have the slightest curiosity as to her motivations. But he was mildly curious, although if he cared to spend the time to think about it he could probably figure out her reasons.

So, now as they circled, Dyson felt himself frowning. Experiencing compassion for a woman that he so desperately wanted to continue to dislike threw him into a tailspin. He suddenly had no idea what to do. He recognized that she was seeking some means of venting her frustration. If he were to admit the deeply buried truth, he would welcome the chance to bruise her just a little. It wasn't like him to feel his emotions writhing this close to the surface.

If he didn't know better, he might have thought she wanted him to hurt her. The last thing he wanted to do was to purposely hurt someone weaker than himself, even by invitation.

And this invitation was definitely not about him.

Dyson stopped circling. He dropped his hands to his side and watched the doctor, waiting for her to move.

She did, with viper-like speed. When she sucker-punched him, with impressively excellent form, he had already tightened the abdominal muscles of his stomach to absorb the impact. But she actually hit him hard enough to cause him to expel the deep breath he had taken in anticipation. He bowed forward a little with the blow, bringing his chin within range. She took advantage of the weakness and his lack of defense and dropped her body down slightly, rotating into a fantastic upper-cut. His teeth jarred against one another, his vision blurred and he grunted, losing his balance and landing on his ass on the mat again.

She must have stunned herself as well, because he heard a sharp intake of breath. When his vision cleared he saw her standing before him, fiercely shaking her hand. Renewed tears were streaming down her face, but she seemed not to notice.

"Oh my God, Dyson, I'm sorry!"

The doctor had finally regained control of herself.

She knelt down in front of him, gingerly touching his chin. She held herself rigidly, as though expecting some kind of retaliation. "I'm good, Doc," he said. She kept fiddling, turning his face this way and that, examining him for damage. Finally he reached up and gently took hold of her wrists. She flinched, but didn't extract herself from the contact. "Seriously, it's fine. Wolves are pretty tough, you know that."

Lauren watched him for a moment, her throat working, and he imagined she was anxiously trying to figure out what on earth she would say to the man she had just attacked unprovoked. Ultimately, she said nothing because they both knew that there wasn't anything to say.

They considered one another, both of them sensing the subtle shift in their association. They listed dangerously toward friendship. If stubbornness weren't inherent to either of them, it might even be plausible to venture down that avenue. For now, they collectively ignored the possibility.

Still holding Lauren's wrists, Dyson stood up and drew the doctor to her feet.

"We need to look after your hands, Lauren. Maybe someday you can explain to me what that was all about," he said.

· x ·


	6. Chapter 6

· x ·

Bo threw her jacket over an empty examination table and leapt up on it. She rolled up the sleeves of her blouse after unbuttoning the top two buttons. Sweat still lingered on the brunette's brow, but at least she felt marginally better.

It was unusual for her to feel so disoriented after feeding; the lightheaded feeling had begun shortly after being exposed to the massive amounts of sexual energy that Lauren's intern had been projecting and had continued to build. Her reaction—the jealousy—and Lauren's rejection had ultimately overloaded her system and she realized that she had waited too long to feed. Feeding hadn't quite dissipated the discomfort, though.

Instead of feeling invigorated after she had her way with the entirely too willing fae man, she had felt dissatisfied and angry. When her mind cleared and rationality had set in it had been too late. Lauren had already disappeared. Now she sat suffering the scrutiny of an unexpected guest.

"Cleo, it's good to see you," Bo said, trying to sound nonchalant. "What brings you back to Toronto so soon?"

Kenzi barged around Cleo and skittered to a halt between them. "Maybe she felt the overwhelming need to be the first sentient stink bomb to be deployed in the Megacity?" Kenzi suggested. The tiny brunette eyed Cleo with disdain, waving a hand in front of her nose.

Cleo ignored the pugnacious young woman. "I witnessed something that I needed to discuss with the Ash. It was decided that I might be more useful here, so I pledged my services for the time being."

Bo made a face at the thought of anyone pledging themselves to the Ash, even for a short duration. She chose to ignore the fact that she had also vowed to be the champion, thereby indenturing herself. She supposed none of them really had the option to do otherwise. If this Garuda thing was as bad as the Ash made it seem they were all in for a world of hurt unless they banded together.

"Forgive me if I'm overstepping, Bo, but is everything okay? You don't seem like yourself."

Bo felt a blush of embarrassment creep up her cheeks. They both knew what Cleo was really asking. "I wasn't—I'm not feeling well," she admitted.

Thankfully Cleo didn't challenge the vague nature of her reply. The erised looked completely knackered and Bo noticed a somewhat unpleasant odor emanating from the woman. She finally understood Kenzi's previous statement and felt a pang of sympathy for the redhead. "Cleo, do you have somewhere to stay? You look like _you_ could use a rest," Bo said.

"And a bath," Kenzi muttered in agreement.

"I haven't been in town long enough to arrange accommodations," Cleo replied.

Bo opened her mouth to offer to let Cleo stay at the clubhouse, but Kenzi's eyes got wide and she silently begged the succubus to keep quiet. Bo shot the younger woman a disapproving look.

"She can stay with me."

While her attention was on Kenzi, Bo had completely missed Lauren's return. The doctor stood on the far side of the lab with Dyson. The blonde no longer wore her pristine lab coat. Her eyes were puffy and her face was red. Bo also noticed that both her hands, which were barely visible, tucked under her crossed arms as they were, sported fresh, white bandages.

Despite obvious signs of emotional distress there was a steely glint in Lauren's eyes that belied vulnerability, projecting a sense of strength. Even Kenzi seemed to notice a change in the doctor and she muttered an exclamation under her breath.

Bo's breath hitched in her chest and she slid off the examination table to take a shaky step forward. Lauren glared at her and subtly shook her head, indicating that what had happened would be dealt with at a later time. Bo stopped and bit her lip, anguished. Lauren had slipped into professional mode and was wearing it like armor.

Breaking the awkward silence, Cleo said, "I would appreciate that."

"I need to speak to Bo about some Fae business, but I can call someone to escort you to my quarters if you like," Lauren said, moving through the lab to come to a halt before them.

Before Cleo could respond, Dyson piped up. "I'd be happy to show her the way, Doc."

"Dyson, this is Cleo Silsbury," Lauren said by way of introduction.

Dyson extended his hand, but Kenzi darted forward and slapped it down. "Don't touch her D-Man!" The changer looked shocked at the human's blatant disrespect. When she saw that everyone was looking at her, Kenzi shrugged, wilted a little and said, "What? She's dangerous."

"She's wearing gloves, Kenz," Bo chastised in a harsh, appalled whisper.

Cleo cleared her throat. Bo watched as the woman assessed Dyson. Whatever she thought of the shifter didn't appear on her face. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Dyson. Your friends have obviously not had time to tell you about me. I'm an erised."

Dyson absorbed this quickly and proffered his hand once more, which Cleo quickly gripped. "I've never met an erised."

Cleo chuckled at that. "I'm not surprised. We're rare."

"Then the pleasure belongs to me," he said before turning to Lauren. "I'm assuming you will fill me in later?"

"Of course," Lauren said. She pulled a keycard out of her pocket and handed it to Dyson. "Ask the seneschal to send someone with some clothes for her as well."

"Sure," he said. "Follow me, if you please." Kenzi looked as though she were about to have a coronary when Dyson offered Cleo his arm. The erised accepted, hooking hers under his, and the tiny brunette's lip curled in a snarl. Bo had to jostle her with an elbow to her ribs before Kenzi would let Dyson and Cleo pass.

When they had gone, Bo turned to her best friend and disappointedly asked, "What was that?"

"She's trouble."

"Kenzi, really. I want you to try to get along with Cleo. What happened between us was my fault, you know that."

Kenzi obviously didn't like it; she kept her lips pressed into a firm line. She stared at Bo long enough to gauge how serious the succubus was before letting out an exasperated breath and shrugged. "Oh, fine! I'm hungry. I'm going to see if I can find the Ash-wipe's kitchen."

Bo knew Lauren would have protested Kenzi roaming around the compound on her own, but the girl had disappeared before she got the chance, leaving the two of them alone in the sterile lab. Bo studied the toes of her boots, unsure of what to say or how to act. She suspected that nothing she did right now would be the right thing, so she waited to see if Lauren would give her some sort of cue.

The doctor simply gestured at Bo to follow her over to the examination table where three little petrified bodies had been deposited. Lauren easily picked one up, studying its rocky expression for a moment before setting it down again. She turned to her instrument cart and picked up something that looked vaguely like a hammer.

Giving Bo a stony look, Lauren lifted the hammer and proceeded to pulverize one of the sprites.

"You scare me sometimes," the succubus muttered, reflexively taking a step back as Lauren once more turned an unreadable expression on her.

"I need to make a bone powder using particles that are less than point-five microns so that I can create a solution, which will then go into the centrifuge to be decalcified."

Bo gaped blankly. She couldn't help it. "You lost me at micron."

Lauren set down the hammer. She gripped the edge of the table, bowing her head to her chest. The bandages stood out against the gleam of the stainless steel. "It's a millionth of a meter."

The succubus was no longer listening. She was staring at Lauren's hands. She could see scratches not quite covered by the bandaging along with the start of some fairly serious bruising. Her heart clenched in her chest and she instinctively reached out to touch Lauren's wrist. "Lauren…" she trailed off as Lauren glanced up to meet Bo's worried gaze.

"I made a mistake, Bo," Lauren whispered. By smashing the sprite to tiny pieces, she seemed to have let go of whatever residual anger she'd been harboring.

"What? No, Lauren, I shouldn't have… I don't know what came over me." Bo struggled with an acceptable explanation, but came up infuriatingly short.

A helpless laugh escaped the doctor. "We both know _exactly_ what came over you, Bo."

"I know, but I mean—that wasn't, like, normal." Bo stopped and puffed out her cheeks, frustrated at her inability to communicate precisely when she sensed Lauren needed to understand the most. Before she could articulate further, Lauren had already steamed ahead.

"I expected you to need sex, Bo. It's just that I was caught off guard and I have a hard time being… less than professional here." Lauren gestured around her. "I've had a lot of stuff on my mind and Cleo had just called and—look, it makes no difference, Bo. I made a mistake by not taking care of your needs."

Bo tilted her head to the side. "You're not mad at me?"

"I was before I realized the unfairness of it. It hurts, Bo, more than I want to admit," Lauren said, her voice shaking from the sheer effort of holding emotions at bay. "But how can I deny you what biology demands, especially now when every day has the potential for so much danger?"

Bo moved to envelope Lauren in a tight hug. "I don't want to do this to us," she whispered, kissing the top of Lauren's head.

"We'll figure it out, Bo." Lauren leaned back so that she could look into Bo's eyes. "_Later._ For now, let's focus on what happened to those sprites. I'd like to know if it's somehow connected to all the other random acts of violence we've been getting reports of. That's why Cleo is here, but I haven't had a chance to ask her about it yet."

Bo reluctantly agreed, but she wouldn't let the doctor extricate herself from her embrace. She narrowed her eyes, focusing once more on Lauren's damaged hands. "First tell me about this," she said.

Lauren looked sheepish. She took a shallow breath followed by a self-conscious chuckle. "I tried to beat the crap out of Dyson."

· x ·


	7. Chapter 7

· x ·

Dyson and Cleo walked arm in arm down the hallway, passing several fae in their progress. Some identified the erised, giving them a wide berth as they passed. Those that knew Cleo for what she was shot Dyson looks of horror, which he tried to ignore. It was easy considering Cleo seemed unaffected by their obvious distaste for her.

After the last couple of fae they passed in the hallway made some remark before edging cautiously around them, Cleo caught Dyson studying her. She raised a shoulder, indicating dismissal. "Don't be shocked. People are always afraid of what they don't understand. They can't quite appreciate the depth of your bravery, either."

"Is it bravery to treat someone with respect?" Dyson wondered.

Shaking her head, Cleo smiled at him. "I think respect is a dying virtue. The younger generations seem to be losing their grip on morality."

"Some of those fae were hundreds of years old," Dyson said. Cleo winked at him and suddenly he felt overwhelmed by the realization that this woman had existed for a very, very long time. It shouldn't have been a surprise that she had a no-bones attitude.

Cleo noticed the fleeting look of alarm flash in Dyson's eyes. "What do you know about the erised, Dyson?"

"Not much, I'll admit. I know you can steal my powers and effectively make me human."

"And yet you are still merely inches away from me? I had two huge Ogre guards who nearly pissed themselves in fear and here you are, willingly touching me."

Dyson considered for a moment. "You haven't threatened me. I saw how my friends behaved around you, with the exception of Kenzi but she's overly protective of those she considers family…"

"I think perhaps you are just an exceptional judge of character, Dyson. It might be part of the reason you came to love Bo so quickly." At that, Dyson stopped walking and dropped Cleo's arm. She paused, turning to face him in the empty hallway. "Ah. Let me tell you about my other power."

She explained her need to feed from people's desires and how doing so required her to realize them for her victims. She told him of how she and Bo had first met and how she had found succubus' love for Dyson entwined amidst her love for Lauren. The shifter looked nervous, but Cleo held out her arm again. "Don't lose your daring now."

Bolstering his resolve, Dyson smiled. They resumed their trek in silence while Dyson collected his thoughts. Eventually he said, "You don't like having to do your thing, do you?"

He felt the falter in her stride. She rapidly recovered. "It's taxing. But a girl has to eat."

"I imagine you weren't very happy when Bo touched you."

Cleo's lips quirked up. "It was unexpected. I haven't been caught off guard in years."

"Bo has a way of doing that to everyone."

"I'm coming to realize that," Cleo murmured.

Their conversation trailed off, each of them lost in thought. Eventually Dyson stopped in front of the door to Lauren's quarters. He handed the key card to Cleo. "I'll contact the seneschal for you. Lauren would want you to make yourself at home," he said. He turned to leave, but Cleo gripped his shoulder.

As he looked back at her, she raised a gloved hand to his face. She gently touched his chin, tilting his head so that the light caught the side of his face better. A low chuckle erupted from the woman, which caused Dyson to frown and glance questioningly at her.

"She did a number on you. That's going to be a hell of a bruise," Cleo remarked.

Dyson's eyes narrowed. "How did you know?"

"I'm a natural observer. I noticed the remnants of tape on Dr. Lewis' hands, but I didn't put it together until just now. You've been teaching her to fight?"

"She asked me to."

"Interesting." Dyson waited for Cleo to elaborate. "I think the doctor is doing her best to prepare for whatever is happening out there. She doesn't want Bo to have to worry about her."

Dyson saw Lauren's motivations with abrupt clarity. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before, but he supposed his own misgivings towards the doctor had clouded rational thought. He hadn't realized that as a mere human Lauren might be frightened at the looming threat of the Garuda. She was always so stoic and unflappable. The doctor must also have realized that she was a weakness for Bo, a place to hit the succubus where it would hurt the most.

"Oh," Dyson breathed.

"She's astute, Dyson. She understands far more than the fae credit her for."

"I know," he admitted.

"Don't underestimate her."

He took a hold of Cleo's hand and turned it over to kiss the gloved top of it. "I won't, I promise," he said and she smiled as he turned to disappear back down the hallway. Sighing deeply, Cleo used the card to let herself into Lauren's quarters.

· x ·

The name of the Pantages Theatre was transitory, like many things in Toronto. Since the days when Dyson claimed that Neve Campbell had danced there, the theatre had been renamed the Imperial Theatre, followed by The Canon Theatre. As it was now operated by the son of Ed Mirvish, late owner of the department store Honest Ed's, it bore the unoriginal moniker Ed Mirvish Theatre.

It had been restored to its original 1920's splendor prior to 1989, when it reopened for use as a Broadway playhouse for Andrew Lloyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera. The show played there for over a decade. Kenzi had even fondly mentioned something about having gone to see it when she'd been in grade school.

Taking in the splendor of the entrance lobby, Bo couldn't help but be overwhelmed by its beauty. Either side of the staircase was lined with tall columns painted a gorgeous golden colour, leading up to vaulted ceilings that had intricate designs of red and gold. For days now, things had been worrisome and somewhat bleak, so it was nice to be surrounded by magnificence.

But Bo's head began to hurt as Dyson negotiated with the guard to allow them to investigate the scene of the vandalism. Humans, when faced with something they couldn't wrap their minds around, often defaulted to plausible explanations to things. So, naturally, finding several tiny, stone garden gnomes amidst a mess of destroyed props in a back room of a popular theatre amounted to nothing more than the work of vandals.

The guard led them to one of the storage rooms normally used for discarded props and left them to their own devices, asking only that they check out with him when they were through. Bo followed Dyson and Kenzi into the room, trailed by Cleo, who had asked to join them rather than spend time in Lauren's apartment twiddling her thumbs.

"Wow would ya look at all this junk," Kenzi muttered, picking up an overly shiny fake sword. "Dude, there is no comparison to the real thing." She wrinkled her nose and allowed the sword to clatter to the floor.

Dyson and Bo both rounded on her. "Don't touch anything!" they exclaimed at the same time.

"Geez, no need to gang up on me," Kenzi intoned, her face transforming into a parody of a pout.

Bo saw that many of the props that looked to have been carefully stacked at one point were now strewn about the room in a whirlwind of a mess. "It looks like there might have been some sort of struggle here."

"Ya think?"

Bo swiped playfully at Kenzi, who backed up into a shelf jarring yet more junk. A few books tumbled off and some stuff fell over. Kenzi just leaned where she was, supported by the shelf. She crossed her ankles and tried to look cool, like she hadn't just contributed to the mess.

Dyson shook his head. It had been a while since he'd been subjected to their antics. He had forgotten that it could be somewhat refreshing. It definitely beat the normal morbid cop-humor he and Hale were frequently exposed to. With a smile on his face, he sniffed the air a bit. "I don't think we're going find anything, Bo. There's been too much traffic through here. I can't get a scent."

Bo frowned. She thought for sure they would find some kind of clue that would point them in the right direction, but it appeared that Dyson was right. There was nothing here but a giant mess. No neon sign said: 'sprite killer went that way!' Disappointed, Bo was about to ask Dyson if he had any ideas when Kenzi let out an unlady-like shriek.

Bo turned to see Kenzi clutching at her head, trying to hide her tightly pinned hair while stamping her foot at her wig, which was now on the floor and seemed to be scampering away. "What the hell?" Bo asked, reaching down to scoop up Kenzi's wig. The thing wriggled in her hand.

"Put me down, you bloody cow!" the wig screamed in a muffled British accent.

Bo squinted at the wig, moving hair to the side to finally reveal a small creature engulfed within. She grabbed the little incandescent greenish-blue man in her fist and handed the hairpiece back to Kenzi.

"Did that astonishingly small man just call you fat, Bo?" Kenzi asked as she adjusted her wig on her head.

Cleo, who until this point had been standing silently just inside the door, laughed and said, "No, I believe that's British for bitch."

"I said put me down!" the sprite yelled, attempting to spit at Bo. A great green gob landed on her forearm.

"Ew!" Bo exclaimed. "Cut it out! We're here to help."

"Go get wasted!" he shouted. "Bleedin' bean-flicker!"

Cleo snickered again.

Bo was tiring of the little man twisting and trying to bite her, to say nothing of insulting her. At least she thought he was. She squeezed her fist tighter. His chest constricted causing the sprite to gasp. "Are you through?" Bo asked. Tiny little hatred-filled eyes fixed on her and he vigorously nodded. "Good. Now, do you know what happened to your little friends?"

"Biscuit arsed tossers weren't no friends of mine!"

The succubus closed her eyes. Her frustration level was rising and she felt her patience wearing exceptionally thin. She'd already had a trying day and it was only two in the afternoon. She took a deep breath and prepared to send a tiny thread of her power into him to make him more compliant.

"Bo, no!" Dyson cried, realizing what she was about to do.

Bo's head snapped up. "What? Why not? I'm just going to make him a little more agreeable."

"You'll kill him. He's too small to handle it."

"You're kidding, right?" Bo said, more than a little terrified that she might have unintentionally snuffed out his life. Dyson kept his gaze level and she felt a shiver of dread travel up her spine. It seemed there was still a lot she had to learn about her powers. She readily used them to her advantage without fully understanding their potency. It unexpectedly frightened her.

Glancing around the room Bo found a small, round hatbox and dumped its contents on the floor. She stuffed the sprite inside and closed the lid before handing it to Dyson. "You and Hale can try to get to the bottom of that _little _conundrum. I'm outta here." She brushed past Cleo and burst into the hallway. She wanted to get away before the others noticed that her hands had begun to shake.

· x ·


	8. Chapter 8

· x ·

When Lauren had refused Bo's advances that morning, she had promised she would make it up to Bo. Although Bo had been expecting a different type of make-up session, she had to admit this one had been fairly pleasant as well. She had been standing in the entrance hall of the Mirvish theatre flexing her hands to quell their shaking when Lauren had called, inviting her to dinner and a movie.

The sound of Lauren's voice had calmed Bo down enough that a smile easily spread over her features despite an underlying sense of anxiety regarding her recent lack of control. Regardless, the pressing need to get to the bottom of what was going on with the dark sprites caused Bo to try to refuse Lauren's invitation at first. The doctor was having none of it. She told Bo in no uncertain terms that after the day they'd had they were entitled to a little down-time together.

Now, as they exited the movie theatre, Bo was happy she had agreed. She snapped open an umbrella and reached for Lauren's hand before stepping out onto the dark, rain-soaked sidewalk. It had been a long time since she'd had an experience that could be considered both 'normal' and 'human'. She had forgotten what it felt like not to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. With considerable effort, Lauren had made sure to keep their discussions light and far away from the troubling world of the fae as possible.

Lauren walked pressed into Bo's side and the warmth of her body suffused Bo. The succubus shifted so that she could put her arm around Lauren's shoulders allowing the woman to fit even better to the contour of her body. Lauren's arm encircled Bo's waist, snugging the women into an affectionate hug.

"That was nice," Lauren said. "I haven't been to a movie in ages."

"Me neither," Bo admitted.

"Do you think that kind of thing happens to _normal_ people?" Lauren wondered referencing the cutesy romantic comedy they had just absent-mindedly absorbed while practically inhaling the biggest bucket of popcorn she had ever seen.

"Define normal," Bo said, turning to look at Lauren with a teasing lift of her eyebrows.

Lauren laughed. "Oh no, Bo, I'm not being drawn into a philosophical discussion of what constitutes normal. I'm well aware that you think it's cute to incite a complete geek meltdown, but I'm not falling for it this time."

"Is it so wrong that I love listening to your babble about things I have no possibility of understanding?"

Lauren's blond locks bounced as she shook her head. "I guess not, although I think you understand far more than you let on."

"Shh! Not so loud—you'll give away my super-secret fae power!" Bo exclaimed making a production of glancing left and right to make sure no one had overheard Lauren. Then she laughed. "But to answer your question: no, I don't think that happens to normal people. No one travels the planet in search of a random stranger they met at an airport and _actually_ manages to find them."

"It's a nice thought, though, isn't it? To think that somehow the universe aligns perfectly to allow for the unification of soul mates?"

"For sure, but for me the more comforting thought is the implication of the existence of soul mates in the first place." As soon as she had expressed the thought, Bo felt a slight shift in Lauren's demeanor. If she hadn't been paying attention to the wonderful feeling of the way Lauren's body moved next to hers while they walked, she would have missed the slight falter in Lauren's step that signaled the change. It prompted Bo to ask, "You believe in soul mates?"

"It seems I forgot my own rule: no philosophical discussions, Bo," Lauren said, deflecting the question.

They walked in silence for a little while, each lost in their own thoughts but enjoying the closeness of the other. Thinking about soul mates and the movie brought up another train of thought that Lauren hadn't allowed herself to follow in quite a while. In closing, the characters on the screen had reunited and eventually settled down to raise a family. It made the doctor think of the discussion she and Bo had been engaged in the fateful night when they had first made love, so long ago.

"Remember when we were discussing white picket fences and children—" Lauren abruptly stopped talking. Realizing she had spoken her thoughts aloud, she clamped a hand over her mouth. She hadn't intended to draw attention to memories of that night. She wanted to keep the feeling of lighthearted happiness alive as long as possible. Inwardly cursing herself, Lauren waited for the inevitable fallout.

Bo stopped walking and turned to face the doctor, studying her lover. "What about it?" Bo asked and Lauren couldn't decide if she sounded upset or merely curious given that her facial expression was uncharacteristically blank.

"I'm sorry." Lauren panicked and tried to distance herself from Bo slightly, expecting some sort of verbal rebuke. Any time she had tried to bring up that night in the past it had always drawn the succubus' ire. Lauren was anticipating this moment to be no different.

Bo's grip on the doctor tightened not allowing Lauren to take the personal space she seemed to want. "Lauren, tell me what you were thinking," Bo said, intentionally keeping her voice low and even, although she still felt a twinge of anxiety whenever she remembered Lauren's betrayal that night.

"I was just… I was wondering if you really did think about having a family someday. I was thinking about the movie and how it ended and—"

Lauren's halting words were silenced as Bo gave her a gentle, compassionate kiss. The succubus felt the blonde relax, obviously relieved that Bo wasn't angry at the turn their discussion had taken. Bo took that moment to deepen their kiss. Feeling an unexpected spike of arousal in Lauren's aura, the brunette made an executive decision.

She pulled the doctor down a nearby, darkened alley and ducked into a recessed entry that would shield them from the rain. Tossing the umbrella aside, Bo buried her hands in the doctor's hair and kissed her again. Lauren's hands found the succubus' waist and she pressed the succubus back against the wall. The doctor thought the understated aggressiveness of the action seemed to coax out the latent predator in Bo when she growled.

Lauren realized too late how inaccurately she had read Bo's reaction. One moment she and Bo were melded together, the next Bo was putting herself between Lauren and three dark-hooded figures that had suddenly appeared in the alley with them.

The doctor's brain couldn't make the switch from passion to potential danger quickly enough. She watched, paralyzed, as Bo snapped the first opponent's nose with a quick open-palmed strike. He went down to one knee, cradling the pulverized cartilage while screaming expletives.

She vaulted over him, wasting no time in her attack. Lauren saw the glint of steel as Bo drew a dagger from her boot. In a blur of motion, Bo stepped forward and hooked one leg around that of her opponent's. She braced her forearm across his chest while grabbing a fistful of his sweatshirt, thereby preventing him from moving anywhere but into the dagger. The succubus struck him with blinding speed, once to the solar plexus and twice to the throat; the last of which ripped the tender skin from just below the left ear to the right clavicle. Using her arm as leverage, she pushed off from her victim and spun to face the next.

This time her positioning was off and she lost the advantage of surprise. She moved to strike, but he dodged, using Bo's imbalance to swing her around and slam her into the wall. She staggered on impact. He grabbed her wrist and smashed her knuckles against the wall, forcing her to drop the dagger.

Lauren lost sight of the struggle when she felt an arm snake around her throat from the side. She hadn't realized she'd left the recessed doorway, exposing herself to the broken-nosed attacker. Her first thought as her airway was compressed was that Dyson would have been disappointed that she had put herself in a vulnerable position. Her assailant dragged her back a few feet before Lauren managed to get her arm around behind the guy's shoulder. She splayed her fingers out over his face, feeling the wet warmth of blood that had yet to cease flowing spread between her fingers. She pushed backwards on his face and twisted at the same time.

He went down howling, but Lauren didn't stop; she continued to beat him. The doctor was operating out of sheer uncharacteristic panic, riding the adrenaline high, and didn't stop until she heard Bo's faint voice whisper her name somewhere behind her.

Lauren abandoned the man, instinctively knowing that he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon and scrambled to her feet. Her hands ached, but she ignored the pain. She found Bo propped against the brick wall of the building. The succubus' head was leaned back and her eyes were closed.

"Lauren?" she moaned again.

"I'm here," Lauren said, dropping to her knees beside Bo.

The succubus looked as though she were merely resting after an exhausting fight, which Lauren was pleased to note they had both survived. But when Bo opened her eyes, lifting her head, they shone with pained tears and Lauren realized that she had made her second incorrect assessment of the evening. She looked down and saw that Bo's arm was pressed firmly to her abdomen.

Lauren made to move Bo's arm to see just what damage her lover had suffered, but Bo stopped her.

"Don't."

The word was spoken so quietly that Lauren at first didn't register it. She pushed Bo's coat aside, noting the massive pool of blood that was beginning to spread beneath the succubus. Terror leapt into Lauren's throat again.

"Oh my God," she breathed. "Oh my God."

"Lauren? I wanted—I want—"

"Shh, Bo. Stop talking," Lauren said.

Bo grabbed the front of Lauren's shirt and used it to drag the blonde closer. Instead of kissing Lauren as the doctor expected, Bo brought her lips close to her ear and whispered, "Children. I do wa—" The word died in Bo's throat. Her eyes fluttered shut.

"No, Bo!" Lauren said, slapping the succubus' cheek. "Stay with me!"

As the rain beat down on them, Lauren shakily drew her cell phone out of her pocket. It took her three tries to get the number right. When it finally connected, Lauren could barely speak. "Bo's in trouble and I'm about to do something universally stupid," she said and then tossed the phone aside without ending the call.

· x ·


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Note: There is method to my madness..._

· x ·

Rain and mud splashed up the back of his pants as Dyson sprinted down the street. Kenzi, Hale and Cleo were a block behind him. They had all been at the Dal sharing a pitcher and discussing the case when Lauren's frantic call had come through. Everyone had stopped talking at the look on Dyson's face and when he pushed back from the table so fast that he knocked the chair over, they knew something was terribly wrong.

He skidded to a halt, sniffing the air. He shouted and waved an arm before taking off again. He loped out into the street where a startled motorist honked amidst screeching tires, and hollered behind the safety of her windshield. Dyson looked at the woman, his expression fierce. The driver's eyes went round as saucers and she paled to a ghostly white before peeling away.

When Dyson entered the alley, the first thing he saw was a human lying on his back, rain splashing over his destroyed face. Dyson could tell he was alive because the guy's legs were twitching and his fingers curled and uncurled in pain.

Shifting his gaze away, Dyson saw two more men—obviously dead—before finally spotting Bo. She was propped against the wall, one arm slung around her middle. Her other arm cradled Lauren's unmoving form. Though her eyes were tightly shut, her body tensed and she opened them in alarm as he splashed up to her.

Bo didn't have to speak. Dyson knew her first priority would be to make sure he helped Lauren. He knelt down and gently lifted the doctor off Bo. Bo raised her hand, reaching for Lauren as he shifted the blonde's limp form away. But the succubus was so weak that she had to drop it to her side after a moment.

Dyson hurriedly felt for Lauren's pulse; it was thready. The doctor's face was ashen and her lips, curled into a garish Joker-like grin, were surrounded by bluish-grey veins. He was reminded of the look on the face of the young man Bo had killed before Dyson and Hale had met her.

He looked over to Bo with a stricken expression on his face. If they didn't do something soon, Lauren would surely die. Bo beckoned to him with a feeble motion of her hand.

"I need… to… feed," Bo ground out between clenched teeth.

Dyson barely managed to nod before Bo's soft lips closed over his and she began to syphon his chi. She took only enough to give her a boost of energy before shoving him aside. She struggled up and moved to Lauren.

Kneeling before the prone woman, Bo dragged the doctor into a sitting position and kissed her deeply. When she pulled away, Dyson saw that Bo was forcing her life essence into Lauren. The purplish-blue flow lasted merely seconds before Lauren seemed to revive. The doctor coughed and immediately curled into a fetal position, shivering uncontrollably.

The commotion of the others arriving at the entrance of the alley drew Dyson's attention. He stood up and waved them over. Hale was already removing his jacket as Bo helped an incredibly weak Lauren to her feet. The siren put his coat around Lauren's shoulders and moved to assist Bo with the blonde.

"Bo," Dyson whispered.

The succubus looked over and then followed his gaze to the gash across her stomach. It was still open and bleeding. Bo had known the wound should have been fatal. The hot, ropey stuff she had tried to hide from Lauren could have been nothing other than her intestines. She had almost completely husked the doctor, yet it had scarcely been enough to keep her alive until Dyson's arrival. The shifter's chi had healed her enough to be able to function, but it was clear that she would still need more.

"What happened?" Kenzi asked, surveying the scene with incredulity.

Before anyone could answer, a rush of foul air surged through the alley. A shimmering orange and red fire danced above one of the dead humans before coalescing into the body. The body rose from the ground, arms and legs hanging limply as the chest expanded.

Hale forced Bo and the doctor to move a safe distance away. Cleo grasped Kenzi's shoulder and maneuvered the girl behind her. Kenzi huffed, but stayed put. Dyson faced the reanimated human just as its head snapped up. It dropped to stand on two feet.

Fiery, dead eyes surveyed the scene. A wicked smile spread across its features before a gravelly bark of a laugh erupted. "So much fear," it said in a rasping, surreal voice, licking its lips. "Delightful." The abomination's gaze settled on Bo.

"Champion," it addressed the succubus, taking a step forward. Dyson growled. The thing ignored the shifter, obviously not threatened. It looked Bo up and down, shaking its head. "The fate of the fae rests in the hands of a weak, mewling child," it said, unleashing another amused laugh.

Dyson lunged just as the body exploded in a fiery mess. The shifter threw an arm over his eyes to shield from the brightness. He was thrust backward while flaming, fleshy bits pelted him, but somehow managed to keep his feet.

The alleyway had returned to darkness and the others merely stared through the gloom to where the dead human had been standing, each one attempting to process the situation to the best of their abilities.

Dyson wiped gore off his face. "Everyone okay?"

"I need a freakin' drink," Kenzi muttered.

"That ain't gonna help, Li'l Mama," Hale said. "Things just got real." The siren shifted his weight slightly as Lauren leaned a little more heavily on him as she attempted to disentangle herself from Bo.

"We need to report to the Ash," the doctor said quietly. She turned to Bo. Her eyes widened, noticing that the succubus' hand was still firmly pressed to her stomach. "Why aren't you healed?"

Bo's mouth worked, but she couldn't force herself to tell Lauren that the sacrifice she had made, which nearly ended the doctor's life, had not been sufficient. She didn't know what to say. Lauren, of course, read between the lines and her eyebrows knit together as she closed her eyes, fighting off anguish. She took a deep breath and moved away from Hale's support all together. She walked a little way down the alley, before stopping with her back to everyone.

"Hale, get Cleo and Kenzi back to the Ash's compound. Take that one with you," Dyson said, indicating the remaining living human. "Maybe we can get some answers out of him, if he doesn't die first."

He looked at Bo and said, "I'll be right back."

As he approached Lauren he could tell that she was crying by the way her shoulders were shaking. "Hey," he said quietly, gently squeezing her shoulder. "Everything's going to be okay." The doctor shrugged away from his touch and turned to look at Bo, who stood leaning against the wall for support, just out of earshot.

"She died, Dyson."

His eyes narrowed in confusion. "What?"

"She was dead!"

"But how—"

"I used chest compressions to keep her blood circulating. I kept kissing her in the hopes that some primal survival instinct would kick in."

"It worked."

The doctor chuckled derisively. "If she had been with you it wouldn't have been a close call."

"Lauren, you can't think like that," Dyson said quietly. In an effort to distract the woman from a conversation he was positive he did not want have, Dyson waved a hand toward the human that Hale was currently lifting into a fireman's carry. "You did that?"

Lauren shrugged. "You could tell?"

"Well, the other two suffered knife wounds. That one's face is a bloody pulp." He gripped the doctor's wrist and lifted her hand up. He pushed back her sleeve to get a better look at her fingers. The bandages they had applied earlier that day were covered with fresh blood. "You might have broken something."

Lauren waved his concern away. "It would be a small price to pay," she muttered. Dropping her hand to her side, Lauren contemplated the shifter. Her gaze betrayed the pain she felt at her failure to heal Bo. "You need to finish it, Dyson."

Cursing the doctor's tenacity, Dyson tried to feign ignorance. "What?" She merely stared at him. Finally he sighed in frustration, his shoulders drooping. "Don't ask me to do this, Lauren."

"Dyson."

"Bo is a grown woman! She's capable of choosing her own partners. She chose you."

Lauren dropped her voice. "That may be the case, but the choice was made easy because you got yourself taken out of the running. She loves us both equally. She would—" Lauren's voice faltered and she had to swallow around her pain to continue, "she would give in to you if you went to her."

"I can't. I just can't."

"This isn't about her choosing between us anymore, Dyson. If you still care about her—even if you can't _love_ her—you would be there for her."

He clenched his teeth, suddenly angry. "What are you, a goddamn pimp?" He hadn't really meant to snap at her, but he couldn't help himself. The chasm signifying the absence of his love for Bo sprawled within him and he consistently stood at its precipice. What Lauren was asking might push him over the edge. If he gave up hope of getting his love back, he might never recover.

He stalked away.

"It's about the champion's survival," Lauren whispered harshly to his back, knowing full well what a low blow it was.

He turned back, a hard expression on his face. "I'll help her this time, _if _she wants it. But the two of you need to find another way, Lauren."

· x ·


	10. Chapter 10

· x ·

Tendons popped as Aiden Aguila tilted his head from side to side, stretching his neck. He sat rigidly, contemplating the evening's interesting turn of events. He had heard reports of the Ash appointing a so-called "champion". Accordingly, he had sent several of his minions to infiltrate the Ash's compound and use their various skill sets to shake things up while keeping an eye out.

That Lachlan's champion was nothing other than a sniveling baby succubus was an indication of how small a threat the Ash considered Aiden to be. It was as though killing four of the naga quintuplets was insufficient proof of his worth as an opponent. He bristled with wounded pride.

His antics had thus far been to test the waters, but the garuda sensed it was now time to dive in headfirst.

He gripped the arms of his cobbled-together throne. The seat had taken him months to create. He had painstakingly stacked sticks, stones, and bones of various creatures, using clay to lock them together. It had been an arduous task, one that he had gladly undertaken as a means to channel his anger and misery while he rebuilt his strength.

The Blood King may have killed off the rest of the garuda by writing his laws and suing for peace, but Aiden had clung precariously to life, feeding off the remaining tension between the light and dark and biding his time until he could exact his revenge.

And the time had finally come, he decided, as the throne's arm crumbled beneath the crush of his fingertips.

· x ·

Lauren sat in the conference room studying an ancient tome she had dragged from the restricted section of the Ash's library.

After leaving Bo at the clubhouse with Dyson, she had only taken enough time to go to her apartment and change into dry clothes. Cleo had eyed her curiously as she prepared to leave again, but the erised seemed to have the sense not to question what the doctor was doing. Neither woman remarked on the bizarre nature of their day, but as she left Lauren thought she heard Cleo mutter something about there being no rest for the weary.

It had come as a mild shock when she found James already in the conference room with his head cradled on folded arms. He snored and mumbled when she walked in, but remained asleep. Lauren found herself hoping he wasn't drooling all over her precious books, then laughed deprecatingly at the absurdity of the thought.

She had almost lost her life tonight and her brain _still_ defaulted to worrying over inconsequential things; although she realized it might be her mind's way of suppressing the day's events to allow her subconscious to process.

Lauren couldn't completely compartmentalize everything, however. In a fit of panic, she had broached the subject of Bo's safety with Dyson. She hadn't anticipated his response, but she eventually grasped that he couldn't possibly have had any other reaction.

It wasn't fair of Lauren to place such a burden on him. After all, he was suffering much more than he let on. He struggled with the loss of his love for Bo. Lauren had known it when she first began sparring with him because he had been especially reserved, pulling punches and taking extra care not to get too involved. It had more to do with what she represented than the fact that she was a fragile human. In the back of her mind, Lauren had known that, if pushed, Dyson might accidentally punish her for what he couldn't have.

Lauren had initially found it difficult to set their differences aside, too. The doctor admitted to herself that she had at first tried to spur a reaction from Dyson. She was thankful he had never risen to the bait.

Attacking him today without provocation had been the catalyst that brought about the realization that they were experiencing a new dynamic of their relationship. It felt almost like a friendship. And it was for this reason that Lauren nearly felt comfortable approaching him about healing Bo. If she hadn't been under stress, she might have found a more tactful way. More likely she would have abandoned the idea altogether.

Seeing that Bo continued to bleed, even after nearly draining Lauren's chi, had frightened the doctor so badly that she actually tried to manipulate the shifter into doing something her rational mind might never consider: have sex with Bo.

Dyson had been right, of course, when he said that Bo was a grown woman and could choose her own partners; except Lauren wasn't entirely convinced that Bo understood exactly how choosing the doctor might negatively impact her health, since she would never be a complete cure. It had been a worrisome thought in the back of Lauren's mind, prompting her to research ways she might make herself a stronger energy source for the succubus.

In all her life, Lauren had never thought of what her existence might boil down to—what she might have to endure in the name of love. This was it, though, the complete and ultimate sacrifice: to offer herself up as sustenance for the one she loved, even if doing so might mean the end of her own existence. She told herself she would gladly do it again, but like all living things, Lauren suffered from one tiny drawback: the pesky instinct for survival.

She wasn't sure if she _could_ do it again.

"Lauren!"

The doctor startled at the same time as James' head snapped up, his eyes suddenly wide with terror. Bo's voice echoed down the hallway, trailed by the angry tattoo of her heeled boots. Both doctor and research assistant stared at one another in anticipation of the arrival of one very pissed off succubus.

Bo appeared in the doorway. Her presence filled the room, anger expanding out from her in a palpable wave. She spotted James first and her eyes narrowed as her cheekbones lifted when she clenched her teeth.

"You, out!" she commanded, pointing at the young man, her voice surprisingly even. Lauren sensed this might be the calm before the storm. A storm that was headed full force for Lauren.

James plastered himself to the wall, sucking in his belly to make himself as small as possible as he slithered past the succubus. The doctor felt sorry for him, listening to his footfalls fade as he raced away.

Lauren sat and waited for Bo to lash out, beginning the twisted dance that was a hallmark of their relationship. She had been down this road frequently enough that she could almost predict how Bo would react. She tried to keep her eyes from settling on the blood that was even now seeping through the bandages to soak Bo's blouse. The sight sent a sympathetic, hot knife through her stomach.

Bo stood before Lauren, trembling in an effort to master control. That Bo was not shouting at Lauren first, before retreating to lick her wounds and then process the reason for her anger, was a good sign. Yet, Lauren still waited.

"So," Bo began, pulling out a chair but unable to make herself sit in it quite yet. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the back of it. "I spoke to Dyson."

Lauren didn't move. "Oh," she said, because this too was part of their dance.

"He offered to help me heal _completely_, if you know what I mean," Bo continued. "Do you know why he would do that?"

Pinned under the stifling gaze Bo directed her way, Lauren felt small and powerless. Nevertheless, she swallowed and lifted her chin. "I asked him to," she admitted.

Bo accepted this as graciously as her currently frothed state would allow. She inclined her head and looked down her nose at the blonde. "Why would you do that, Lauren?"

"I panicked."

Bo didn't seem to know what to say to that. Of all the explanations she had thought Lauren might give, she hadn't expected such uncomplicated honesty. She considered for a moment and then dropped herself into the chair.

At first Lauren didn't understand why the succubus' shoulders were shaking and then she realized that Bo was laughing.

"Bo?"

Bo covered her face with her hands. "My God, Lauren, do you have any idea how fucked up our relationship is?"

"Yes," Lauren replied quietly.

"I mean, just this morning you were beating the crap out of Dyson because I fed from someone else."

Lauren breathed deeply, a vague ghost of jealousy swirling through her mind even now. She shut it out immediately. "I know, but these are extenuating circumstances."

Bo stared.

Lauren stood up. She walked over to Bo and plucked at the succubus' blouse where her blood had seeped through the material. "I can't fix this for you, Bo."

"It's fine," the succubus said, grasping Lauren's hand.

The doctor shook her head. "It's really not. You need to be one hundred percent. If anything, what happened tonight should solidify that for you."

"Why? We're all alive. And you, my dear, kicked some serious ass!"

Lauren's cheeks coloured at the praise, but she wouldn't allow Bo to so easily distract her. The succubus needed to start taking her role as champion more seriously. She was surprised that seeing the garuda reanimate the dead human didn't have more of an effect on the brunette.

But even as she thought that, it occurred to Lauren that Bo might also be blustering her way through a steaming pile of insecurities.

She frowned slightly as she placed her palms on Bo's shoulders. She leaned in and peppered the other woman's face with a dozen little kisses. "I did what I thought I had to at the time, Bo," Lauren said as she drew back to observe the startled expression on the brunette's face. "Unfortunately you're going to have to do the same."

Bo's ire spiked again at that, but Lauren acted quickly to quell it. She captured Bo's lips in a soft, yet passionate kiss. "I love you," she said. "And I would do anything to protect you. But right now you need to protect yourself because there are some things I just can't do." _Yet_, she silently amended.

"I won't sleep with Dyson, Lauren," Bo growled.

Lauren nodded. It wasn't possible to explain to the other woman that she would prefer the known quantity to the unknown. Whether the succubus wanted to or not, eventually her physical needs would override her heart, at which point Lauren dreaded the start of yet another vicious cycle.

"At least let me re-bandage that for you," Lauren said, accepting temporary defeat.

Bo nodded and allowed the doctor to draw her to her feet. "I guess I need to be somewhat presentable for our meeting with the Ash."

· x ·

_Author's Note:_ Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me for this story. I know it's fairly character driven, but we'll get into some action again soon, I promise. I appreciate all the reviews and would love to hear any feedback, even constructive criticism. Anyway, buckle up, my friends, because I think this one is shaping up to be pretty epic. :S

Special thanks to eblane for being a trooper and lending her beta-reading expertise to the cause!


	11. Chapter 11

· x ·

Lachlan slammed his fist down on his desk, bouncing several items.

"You woke me up for this?"

Bo's mouth twisted into a puzzled grimace. She wondered briefly if the Ash had actually heard what she had told him. She glanced sideways at Dyson, who looked as startled as she felt. The shifter lifted a shoulder questioningly.

"I thought you would want to know that the garuda is capable of manipulating the dead," Bo stammered. The intensity of the pain in her stomach was making her nearly inarticulate. She considered leaning on Dyson for support, but she would be damned if she would allow Lachlan to see her weakness.

"I pay that one to think," Lachlan growled, pointing at Lauren, who stood next to Hale in the back of the room with her head bowed slightly. "You, on the other hand, are meant merely as a figurehead."

Bo's cheeks flushed, her blood pressure rising. "A figurehead?"

"Bo, my brothers and I have been fighting Aiden Aguila since before you were a horny twitch in your daddy's pants. It was time for a change in tactics. I needed a banner to rally support around, so to speak."

Exhaustion caused the succubus' brain to stutter, getting stuck on the least important piece of information. "Wait—it has a name?"

"Of course _it_ has a name. Do we just run around calling you 'the succubus'?" Lachlan shook his head as he rose, walking around the desk to lean on it, crossing his arms. "Look, direct assault doesn't work. You now know why. Aguila has unheard of powers. He can manipulate both the living and the dead."

Dyson growled, "You didn't see fit to warn us?"

"I needed to make sure I made the right choice." Lachlan shrugged.

"You son of a bitch!" Dyson grumbled and took a menacing step forward. Bo threw an arm across his chest, keeping him from advancing.

She leaned closer to him and whispered, "Leave it, Dyson."

"You could have been killed, Bo," the shifter hissed.

"But I wasn't and Lachlan received whatever confirmation he thought he needed. He's manipulating me for some reason. He wants me to think I'm inconsequential. I don't understand the game he's playing, but I'm willing to play along. For now."

"This is ridiculous, Bo."

"I agree. Just remember, I've never been one to play by the rules."

Dyson made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, but he deferred to Bo for the time being.

However, he resolved to find Trick first thing in the morning and ask him what the hell Lachlan was playing at. Perhaps the Blood King could shed some light on the situation. Nothing was making any sense to Dyson's tired mind.

"You're dismissed," Lachlan said, turning his back on them. "Oh and Bo," he looked disapprovingly over his shoulder, "you better get your groove on with someone soon because you're bleeding all over my floor."

Both she and Dyson looked at the blood that was now dripping on the floor beneath Bo's feet. She had bled through the fresh bandages already. The shifter gave her a sympathetic look but she merely pressed her lips together, shook her head and marched away.

· x ·

Bo fell back on the bed and covered her eyes with her forearm. Her other hand instinctively went to her stomach, pressing into the vicious pain there. She knew she was being a damned fool. She should grab the nearest available fae and screw them blind, but she kept remembering the look on Lauren's face when Bo had fed from the strange fae that morning.

The expression had been of betrayal and pain, and now the doctor was asking Bo to hurt her again. It made the succubus wonder if the doctor wasn't a little bit of a masochist. The fact that Lauren wanted Bo to sleep with Dyson caused Bo's heart to ache. She didn't think the doctor understood what she was asking. Bo simply couldn't allow her feelings to get confused again.

She had spent most of her early adulthood longing for a way to connect with another human being that didn't end with a cold corpse after a night of passionate heat. She had found that with Lauren. The doctor knew the risks and she willingly took them anyway, trusting Bo implicitly.

And when Bo thought about her association with Dyson, she recognized the dynamic had been so different. There had never been any fear between them. With the shifter, Bo didn't have to worry about letting go; she could abandon everything and give herself over to the passion.

She screwed up her face in thought. She understood what was motivating the doctor: the near-fatal wound Bo suffered had brought the reality of their situation to the forefront. Bo lived a dangerous life and Lauren was destined to live in fear for her lover. Worse still, no human was ideal for Bo on a fundamental level and Lauren had learned that the hard way today.

Bo could appreciate the difficult emotions Lauren must be experiencing. The doctor had to be feeling somewhat inferior, wondering how their relationship could possibly last when Bo would be unable to love her with complete abandon.

The succubus groaned. She had no idea how to fix this. One way or another, someone suffered: either Bo physically, or Lauren emotionally. Lauren had tried to make it easy for Bo by absolving her of any guilt associated with using Dyson to heal. It just couldn't be Dyson because she had fought for too long to suppress her affection for him.

So, what she wanted right now was for this fuck of a day to be over. A little sleep might be just the thing to help solve life's riddles. If not, at least there would be sunlight.

"Hey," the bed shifted as Lauren sat on the edge next to Bo, "if you're going to fall asleep, at least take off your boots."

"I'm not sleeping," Bo said, moving her arm to gaze at Lauren's beautiful face. A longing ache tightened her chest. Bo suppressed it quickly, knowing that if she engaged Lauren in any way, she might not be able to control herself. She would feed until she healed completely and that would not end well.

Oblivious, Lauren smiled as she stood up and began to remove Bo's boots. The blonde was wearing a pair of gray jogging pants and a black tank top, an outfit that might have been considered standard loungewear for Lauren _if_ the doctor actually took the time to relax.

They had decided not to go back to the clubhouse given that both women were bone-weary. Lauren had even managed to arrange accommodations for the rest of their group, surmising that it might be safer to keep everyone within the compound until they were able to figure out exactly what they should do about the garuda.

Bo moaned as Lauren's hands massaged her calves until a swirl of guilt washed over her. Lauren was likely far more exhausted than Bo and yet the doctor was still being sweet and accommodating. "Lauren, stop." Bo moved her leg away with some effort. The worse the pain from her wound got the more she tried to hide it from Lauren.

"Everything okay?" Lauren asked, and from the look on the doctor's face, Bo knew that the blonde was aware of how ludicrous the question was. Nothing about the day had been even remotely 'okay'.

"You need to sleep."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead," Lauren mumbled, then clamped a hand over her mouth in an effort to keep exhausted giggles at bay. She couldn't do it. She stared at Bo for a second, laughter dancing in her eyes, and then finally doubled over, clutching her stomach while her whole body shook.

Bo felt a slight smile form on her lips. Lauren had tears streaming from her eyes by the time she collapsed on the bed next to Bo. "I suppose that could be any day now," Lauren whispered, sobering slightly.

_Not if I can help it_, Bo thought and winced as the doctor shifted so that she could rest her head on Bo's chest.

Neither spoke again, nor was it long before Lauren's breathing evened out and fatigue claimed her. Bo lay awake for a while longer, her fingers twirling a lock of Lauren's hair as she struggled to come to terms with what she knew, with a growing certainty, she would eventually have to do.

· x ·

Cleo Silsbury watched as Bo's human friend gulped another shot. When she had first met Kenzi, the girl had been drinking with Bo in an effort to help the succubus overcome the emotional stress of seeing Lauren with Nadia. And then the slightly intoxicated succubus had made the mistake of trying to use her powers on Cleo.

Kenzi must have noticed her watching, because as the human dragged the back of her hand across her mouth, her eyes narrowed. "What are you looking at?" she demanded, catching the attention of both Dyson and Hale, who were also in the compound's lounge with them.

Cleo bowed her head, to hide her smile, and shook it. "Nothing much," she replied. When dealing with young people, especially cantankerous humans, Cleo usually found it easier to communicate at their level. Sometimes, like now, she did it to entertain herself. Kenzi was an intelligent, caring person, but Cleo had ended up on the wrong side of the human's loyalty to Bo and the young woman wasted no effort in letting her know it.

"Then you must be looking in a mirror," Kenzi retorted.

Hale, who had been watching interestedly, laughed. Dyson merely rolled his eyes at Kenzi.

Cleo offered to pour the girl another drink. "Young lady, eventually you'll realize that I'm not here to hurt anyone."

Kenzi blew a raspberry and downed the shot Cleo handed her. "Bo said to play nice, so I'll play nice. Long as you keep pouring enough drinks to wash visuals of 'splodin' humans out of my noggin, we're good to go, capice?"

"Yeah," Cleo said. She wanted to forget all about what had happened in the alley, too, but getting wasted was not wise. Given how easily the garuda found them, Cleo wanted to keep her mind clear.

"Besides," Kenzi said leaning towards Hale, hiking her thumb in Cleo's direction, "bitch be sporting some crazy powers. I wonder if she touched that garuda douche if she could turn into swirling flames, too?"

Cleo laughed. "Be careful what you wish for, I might be inclined to explode you."

"Nah! You'd have to catch me first. Even if you could get through Bo, your ancient ass wouldn't have a chance at catching me."

The erised looked under the table at Kenzi's multi-buckled, spike-heeled boots. "Those put the odds in my favor." She winked.

"I'd bet on the erised," Dyson said, and laughed as Kenzi punched his arm.

"That's the last time I root for you, dog-breath," Kenzi said and busied herself pouring another shot for herself and Hale.

Cleo watched the laughter fade from Dyson's eyes. His expression became drawn, but he was attempting to hide it. Failing to do so, he pushed his chair back. He mumbled something about being tired and headed away from the table.

Excusing herself as well, Cleo followed the shifter out. She found him leaning against the wall, outside the lounge. "Hey, you okay?"

"Observing again, were you?"

Cleo shrugged unapologetically. "It's a handy skill. I'm alive because I watch what's going on around me. Anyway, when we were in the alley earlier, it looked like Dr. Lewis laid something pretty heavy on you. Is it a burden that can be shared?"

Dyson sighed. He wanted to be angry at the woman for bringing up what he'd sooner forget, but he sensed that she was reaching out to him out of genuine kindness. Obvious nosiness aside, Dyson appreciated her concern, regardless of the fact that he didn't wish to get into the subtleties of his relationship with Bo.

"Not really."

Cleo frowned at that. "I realize I don't know you, Dyson, but I can tell that something is bothering you. I want to help," she said.

"You can't help with this."

The erised studied him momentarily, her eyes darkening in thought. "If something is preventing you from having your head in the game, Dyson, you jeopardize the entire group."

"It's none of your business," he snapped, his patience finally wearing thin.

She put up her gloved hands and nodded acquiescence. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"Thank you," he grumbled, not sure at that moment if he meant it.

"Sleep well," she said, although she doubted any of them would sleep well for some time to come. The shifter inclined his head in acknowledgment and left her standing in the hallway.

· x ·


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's Note_: Because I suck at all things related to chemistry (and biology, history, geography, math… oh, you get the idea) I asked SGAConvert to do a tiny [I hope] bit of research. So, thanks for figuring out the world for me, SGA! You are a rockstar!

Having said that, whatever errors are found herein can be blamed solely on me.

· x ·

Lauren slowly came awake to the feel of Bo's body spooned against her, an arm around her waist. The succubus shivered again and the doctor realized that was what had originally wakened her.

"Are you cold, Bo?"

"It's freezing in here. But you're so warm," Bo said, and wiggled a little in an effort to get that much closer to Lauren. Although she tried to mask her discomfort at even the tiniest movement, Bo still let out a pained groan.

Lauren turned. She pushed a sweaty lock of hair out of brunette's face and placed the back of her hand against her brow. "I think you have a fever."

"Not sick," Bo mumbled.

Lauren pursed her lips. She could feel a knot of irritation building in her chest, annoyed at Bo's continued stubbornness regarding her injury. She sat up, ignoring Bo's protestations, threw back the covers and leapt out of bed.

She walked around to Bo's side and eased the duvet out of the brunette's grip. The doctor was sure that if the succubus wasn't in so much pain she would have curled into a ball to prevent Lauren from getting a good look at her wound. Instead, she feebly fought Lauren for possession of the sheets covering her body.

No sooner had she pulled the sheets back than her breath caught in her throat. Bo had bled through her bandages overnight and blood had begun to seep into the mattress. She covered her mouth with her hand.

"Bo!"

"'Tis but a flesh wound!" the succubus muttered, quoting Monty Python.

She stared at Bo in disbelief. The succubus was trying to make a joke when she was clearly extremely sick and Lauren was at an utter loss for words.

Instead of speaking, Lauren leaned down and kissed Bo, softly at first. When she touched her tongue to her lover's lips, trying to coax the succubus into allowing her access and perhaps to entice her into feeding, she felt a shaky hand on her chest, pushing her away.

"No."

Her hands involuntarily tightened into fists as frustration crashed over her. She clenched her teeth together and fought back angry tears. She couldn't understand why Bo was being stubborn. "Bo, you might have sepsis. Do you know what that means? If you don't feed and heal completely you could die in a matter of days, goddamn it!"

"I'm fine," Bo said obstinately.

Lauren's heart pounded in her chest. "I can't do this!" She threw her hands up in the air, turned and marched into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. At the sink, she closed her eyes and gripped the edge of the counter until her knuckles turned white. She tried to breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth until she could calm down. When she finally felt a little more in control, she opened the door and saw Bo standing in the middle of the room, clearly attempting to make her way to Lauren.

"Lauren, I'm afraid if I start I won't be able to stop."

"Then find someone you won't hurt, Bo. This… this… _behavior_ is just plain reckless. And selfish! You can't just think about yourself. Or—" Lauren paused, taking a deep breath, "or me. The Ash appointed you champion. You need to start acting like one. Either that or tell him to find another 'figurehead' and give up this farce."

"Farce?" The remaining colour drained from Bo's face.

Lauren wondered if maybe she had gone too far, but she pressed on. "That thing caught us off guard, Bo, and nearly killed you. It laughed at us because we're weak."

"I'm not weak," Bo growled.

"Then prove it. Call someone. _Anyone_." She walked over to her night table and picked up her cell phone. "Now, I have to go to work. I expect you to take care of yourself." She handed the phone to Bo and tried to give her a conciliatory kiss, but Bo turned her face away. Even though Lauren expected it, she still felt the sting of the rejection. It seemed par for the course, so she simply smiled half-heartedly and went back into the bathroom to turn on the shower.

As she stepped under the spray, she felt a bitter-sweet triumph at the sound of Bo's voice as she spoke on the phone.

· x ·

Lauren had been poring over the books for a good hour. She had stopped by the lab first to make sure that the centrifuge was still spinning down the bone slurry she had made of the pulverized sprite. She had been puzzled by a series of bright pink stringy lines crisscrossing the interior window of the machine, but she would have to wait until it stopped to figure out what the problem was.

Before leaving again, she had given the technician instructions to send James into the conference room as soon as he arrived.

She flipped the page of the alchemy text, sighing in frustration. It seemed the longer she searched, the more her eyes burned, but the more elusive her goal became. The sick feeling in the pit of her stomach at what she had bullied Bo into doing continued to worsen as well, disrupting her focus.

She didn't know what she expected; brilliant alchemists had been searching for centuries for what she now sought. Not a single one of them had ever made a break-through. She idly wondered if any of them had known about the fae.

"Morning, Doc!"

Irritated at the arrival of her overly chipper assistant, Lauren's lip curled. She struggled not to snarl at him. "Coffee?" she asked, hopefully.

"Better! I have water. You know what they say about water, right?"

"No." Lauren wasn't really in the mood for trivia, but she suspected he was about to fill her in anyway.

"It's the elixir of life," he said, tossing her a 500 milliliter bottle.

Lauren narrowed her eyes as she regarded the bottle. James continued to prattle, but Lauren was no longer listening. "It couldn't be that easy," she muttered, turning the bottle in her hands.

"Doctor Lewis? You all right?"

The blonde looked up, a thrilled feeling burgeoning throughout her chest. She stood the water on the table and after two quick steps had grasped James' face in her hands. She gave him a huge, sloppy kiss and patted him on the back as she sprinted for the door.

Her stunned assistant remained rooted to the floor for a split second while his brain processed what had just happened. An enormous grin spread across his face and his legs were wobbly as he followed her back into the lab.

Lauren stood in front of a microscope, switching to a high-powered objective.

"Uhm, not that I don't appreciate it, but what was that all about?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. "If I'd known all it took to get a beautiful girl to kiss me was a bottle of water, I would have begun offering them up as pick-up lines a long time ago."

The doctor stopped fiddling with the scope. She frowned, realizing her mistake, and turned to the young man with a serious expression. As it turned out, Bo had been correct after all: James was crushing on Lauren and she might have just exacerbated the problem. "James, you know I'm only interested in women, right?"

His face heated to a glorious, embarrassed red. "Yeah… Uhm, yeah, I knew that. So, you and, uh, the succubus, eh? That's what that was all about last night? Never mind," he rolled his eyes and managed composure with alacrity. He waved a hand at the microscope. "You gonna fill me in now? It was kinda hard to know what you wanted when you wouldn't even tell me what I was looking for."

"The answer to their longevity," Lauren explained as she turned back to the microscope. "The fae have a hydrogen rich system, meaning they must metabolize water differently."

"Oookay," James said. "So, what you're telling me is that to the fae water really _is_ the elixir of life?"

"I think so, yes. Normally hydronium is short-lived, so I'm guessing that their circulatory pH levels are more acidic, thereby preventing the degradation of the ions."

James studied the excited doctor for a moment, trying to string his thoughts together. At first his lust for her clouded his reasoning and he couldn't figure out why the long life of the fae might be important to her. As he came to understand, he felt like kicking himself. _The succubus_. Lauren had been researching a way to put herself on a level playing field. He couldn't decide if he should be impressed or disturbed.

_If_ the doctor succeeded and word got out, humanity would never be the same.

Lauren suddenly stopped her excited chatter, cocking her head to the side. "Did you hear that?"

James shrugged out of his reverie. "Hear what?"

A second, enormous explosion rocked through compound, rumbling the floor beneath their feet. The lab went dark. Seconds later the emergency lights blinked into existence.

"What the fuck was that?" James questioned, forgetting his number one rule not to swear in the presence of a lady.

"I have no idea, but it can't be good," Lauren said.

· x ·


	13. Chapter 13

· x ·

Bo sat on the edge of the bed, shaking uncontrollably. It had taken every last bit of strength she possessed to keep herself standing while she spoke with Lauren. When the doctor had gone, it was all Bo could do to make it back to the bed.

She had no idea how long she had been there, staring at Lauren's cell phone, sweat dripping from her brow. She had known last night that it would come down to this, but for some reason despite how awful she felt Bo couldn't make herself do what she had to.

She had faked the call.

Now she sat with the phone gripped tightly in her sweaty hand, wondering what the hell to do. She honestly had no idea who to call. Dyson was out of the question. Cleo's power made her untouchable, striking her from the list as well. She briefly considered calling Hale, but she had a suspicion that doing so might open a totally different can of worms.

Sluggishly contemplating her options, Bo curled onto her side and closed her eyes.

The first rumble that tore through the compound woke her. The second sent stucco from the ceiling peppering down.

The power snapped off as Bo struggled up, panic flaring in her chest. She slid off the bed and because she couldn't stand erect, she shambled to the door of Lauren's bedroom doubled over, clutching her stomach. Fighting nausea, she descended the stairs hoping to find Cleo lounging in the living room, but the erised was not there.

Bo threw open the door and took a shaky step out into the hallway, where she paused to lean against the wall, gasping for breath.

"Hey! Everything all right?"

Unable to speak, Bo merely shook her head and slid further down the wall, her legs no longer able to support her. It was moments before she felt a strong set of hands grip her underarms to drag her up. When she managed to focus, Bo realized that her benefactor was none other than the head of security, Serena.

"Where is Doctor Lewis?" Serena asked as she hoisted Bo, throwing the succubus' arm across the back of her shoulders so that she could support most of her weight.

"Lab," Bo croaked.

Serena nodded. "One of the ogres will find her then. Can you walk?"

Bo didn't answer. Instead she reached for Serena's hand. The woman drew in a long, pleasured breath as Bo desperately expelled a trickle of power in search of healing.

"I'm sorry," Bo whispered, using a burst of adrenaline to push Serena against the wall. Serena's eyes hooded as Bo kissed her deeply, eliciting a moan. The woman didn't protest as one of Bo's hands found its way up beneath her shirt and the other popped the button of her jeans.

Taking a huge sip of chi from Serena to get a jump start on the healing, Bo was stunned by the more aggressive nature of the security woman. Serena pushed Bo roughly then swung her so that her back hit the wall with a dull thud. Serena's hands were everywhere and her mouth trailed harsh kisses down the length of Bo's neck.

Calloused hands jammed beneath Bo's blood soaked shirt, rucking it up to expose her breasts which Serena promptly paid homage to. Bo leaned her head back against the wall as Serena continued her ministrations. She struggled not to get too involved in the whole process as the woman lifted one of Bo's legs to support it against her hip, allowing her better access.

Staring at a spot on the ceiling, Bo felt her body involuntarily reacting. In an effort to distract herself, she breathlessly asked, "Why were you looking for Lauren?"

If Serena was bothered by the blasé conversation while in the midst of such an intimate act, she didn't show it. "Protocol," she answered between jagged breaths, "When something happens we are to lock down and protect all of our assets. Doctor Lewis is at the top of that list."

"So, what happened?" Nature forcefully asserted itself and unable to fight it, Bo reached out and slipped her hand back inside Serena's pants.

"Bombs," Serena replied. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the head of security to speak; her cheeks flushed red in pleasant contrast to her dark skin. "Two… the smaller one… ah, God, the smaller one inside the compound… the bigger one, fuck, took out the power and backup generators and shook up the central part of the building."

Closing her eyes again, Bo rocked against Serena. Lauren's name ran like a news ticker inside Bo's mind as her body succumbed to the pleasure. She came and Serena kissed her again. Bo took another enormous pull of chi, enough that the woman would likely be a heap on the floor if the two weren't supporting one another. Serena swore in climax and collapsed against Bo.

· x ·

Cleo had been up early. She made her way to the lounge for a cup of coffee and sat staring out the window at the pristine, manicured gardens, her chin resting on a gloved hand. She had been drifting through daydreams when a hand rested on her shoulder. She tensed momentarily before noticing Dyson's reflection in the glass.

"Good morning," he said. "Do you mind if I join you?" He, too, clutched a cup of coffee.

"By all means," Cleo said, relaxing with a genuine smile.

"Did you manage to sleep?"

"Lauren's couch is surprisingly comfortable. I haven't slept that well in probably a month."

"No doubt exhaustion played a major factor," Dyson mused.

"Indeed. It's also an odd sensation to trust your surroundings."

Dyson sat back at that, studying the erised. "I'm sorry, Cleo."

Cleo tilted her head to the side and searched his face. His rugged features gave nothing of his meaning away and she wondered what he could possibly have to apologize for.

He must have seen the question in her expression. "I was unfriendly last night."

"Oh, no," Cleo said, chuckling softly. She sipped her coffee. "You were well within your rights, Dyson. I should have known better than to approach you after such a trying day."

"You were right, though. I haven't been myself for a long time." At her raised eyebrow, Dyson huffed out a breath and continued, "I was once what you'd call a player." He shook his head at the memories of all the fun he'd had as a young wolf.

"Until you met Bo," Cleo supplied, gently prodding him to resume.

"Yes," he said quietly. "She enthralled me and it had nothing to do with her succubus powers."

Cleo listened as he told her about how they had met, how he had been forced by Trick to let her go, how he had been unable to stay away. He even touched vaguely on the nature of his relationship with Lauren and how they had both been vying for the succubus' attention. And eventually he explained how he had come to lose his love for Bo.

His story came to a halt and he shrugged, his gaze resting on the gardens outside the window. "Last night Lauren asked me to heal Bo like it would mean nothing to any of us."

"Ah," Cleo said. "Now I understand."

Dyson raised his eyebrows and snorted derisively. "There's this ghost of a feeling inside me. It's like when you can't remember a name or word and it's on the tip of your tongue. You think if you concentrate hard enough it'll shift to the forefront. It's as if my love for Bo isn't gone, merely… hidden or… or forgotten. Does that make sense? And everything else… everything else is still there. I still get jealous. I still hurt. I remember what it felt like to be possessive…" He stopped, ran his hands agitatedly through his hair. "And Lauren—well, I want Bo to be happy. I do. It's just… Lauren can't take care of her, you know? How could she? She's human."

He frowned deeply at that, as if thinking that way—putting voice to the thought—somehow made him a villain. Cleo reached out and grasped his forearm, leveling him with an unwavering, yet sympathetic gaze.

"I think Lauren is extremely hyper-sensitive to the fact that she isn't an ideal partner for Bo," Cleo pointed out.

The shifter relented, blowing out a breath. "I know," he admitted dejectedly. "And I can see that she is taking every step she possibly can to be less of a liability. I just can't be the go-to guy when she fails."

"I think that's reasonable. And I'd be willing to bet that Lauren knows she made a mistake. Perhaps you should consider talking to her, Dyson. In the meantime, you have to trust Bo to make appropriate decisions."

"But she's bloody reckless," he muttered.

"That recklessness was part of what you loved about her, though, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he admitted and then his eyes narrowed as he looked out the window, his coffee raised halfway to his lips. Cleo frowned as his expression darkened.

"What is it?" she enquired.

He pointed to several figures racing across the lawn, toward the compound. "Berserkers," he growled, just as the first explosion sounded in the distance. "They're attacking the goddamned compound!"

· x ·


	14. Chapter 14

_Author's Note: _Sorry for the delay in updating. I'm trying to do at least one a week, but I have a messed up schedule and my wonderful beta-readers are busy peeps. Anyway, this one goes out to all the lurkers out there. I'll never know, but I'm hoping you guys are enjoying the story!

Thanks again to rabastan04, SGAConvert and eblane for helping me make this story what it is!

· x ·

Kenzi stepped out into the hallway.

The hair on the back of her neck rose in an uncanny warning and she instinctively twisted while allowing her legs to go to jelly. On the street she had honed her reflexes in preparation for the unexpected. She dropped, boneless, as the air above her head whooshed and the doorframe splintered beneath the sheer force of impact.

"What the—" Hale started as Kenzi shifted directions while rising from her crouch, planting both her hands firmly in the center of his chest and shoving him so that he staggered back into his borrowed accommodations.

Having created distance, the small woman allowed herself to relax a little. Slightly behind her, she felt Hale tense as his brain chugged up to speed. In the doorway stood a feral looking man, somewhat hunch-backed, grinning toothily at them. He cockily tapped a bat, which he had used to take a swing at Kenzi, on the palm of his hand.

"You're quick, Kitten," the man teased, the grin dissolving into a slimy smile.

Hale took a deep breath, but Kenzi reached back and touched his arm, giving a slight shake of her head. She needed another moment to think before he started up with his siren's call.

She looked steadily around the room and noticed Hale's service weapon on the table not even two feet away from her. Banking on Hale having some sense of ingrained, masculine hero complex, Kenzi feigned a terrified tremble. He got the subconscious cue and tried to move himself between her and their unwanted guest.

Later, she would kiss him for it. Right now, she grabbed the opportunity the distraction bought and picked up the gun. She held it in her weak hand, allowing it to wobble, and pointed it at the intruder.

As she suspected, he looked at the gun and the toothy grin was back. "Oh honey, this is gonna be such a treat," he said, obviously unconcerned.

She waved the gun a little and his gaze followed. "See this gun?" she asked. He laughed, entertained by her naivety. While she distracted him, she swiftly hefted the flower pot that had been on the table next to the weapon and launched it at his head. "Watch out for the flowerpot!"

He went down like sack of potatoes amidst bits of broken pot, clumps of soil and gorgeous hibiscus leaves. She flipped the gun, handing it grip first to a very stunned Hale. The siren's mouth was agape and she gave him a brilliant smile before hooking her forefinger beneath his chin, guiding his mouth shut.

"What the hell was that?"

"Don't you ever play video games? Guy was a berserker. Only way to take 'em out is with blunt objects," she explained, rolling her eyes. She marched over to the fallen man and grabbed the bat. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but we need to get out of here pronto. We gotta find our succubuddy. No doubt whatever is happening she's at the middle of it. Girlfriend always finds trouble."

This time before leaving the room she cautiously checked the hallway.

"Remind me never to tangle with you," Hale muttered, following Kenzi. Louder he said, "At least we know what those explosions were all about. Bastards were trying to create a way in."

Kenzi nodded, stalking down the hall with determination, the bat bumping against her thigh. "Looks like they succeeded."

· x ·

Lauren stood stock still, her head tilted while she listened. She could barely hear anything over her own frantically beating heart. Dyson had taught her that breathing was imperative to controlling fright, so as she listened she concentrated on regulating her oxygen intake.

Beside her, James trembled. If she hadn't been training for a couple of weeks for such an occasion, if she hadn't already had to test her skills within the last twenty-four hours, she might have felt the same. Being a lab geek tucked neatly away inside a supposedly safe compound tended to lend to a feeling of security. When something happened to upset that impression, unease easily seeded itself and began to sprout a feeling of helplessness.

Lauren needed to nip James' fright before it could permeate any further, ruining her stoic calm.

"James," she said quietly, grasping his hand. It was cold and clammy. "I need you to get the emergency medical kits. We'll take two each. Can you handle bringing all four here to me?" Giving him direction, something to do, would keep him from thinking about whatever might be going on.

He gulped. She squeezed his hand. He looked as though he might pass out.

"Breathe, James. You need to breathe. We're fine for now. Trust me, okay?"

He nodded, looking ashamed to be afraid when she was so clearly in control of her own dread. Taking a deep breath, seeing Lauren's nod of approval, he managed a tight smile. "I can bring four. Do you... Do you think people are hurt?"

Lauren chewed on her lip. "We need to be prepared for anything."

"Right. Okay." He seemed to make a decision to put on a brave front. He stood up taller and puffed his scrawny chest out. Bravado. Lauren was pleased. He moved away with a manufactured confidence to perform the task she had given him.

Taking another deep breath, Lauren focused her thoughts. She had no real way of knowing what was happening within the rest of the compound, but she did know that they couldn't stay here. The lab was in the middle of the compound with no access to the outside. It would not do to get caught here.

As the Ash's primary medical officer, Lauren decided that she should try to find him. Every fiber in her being told her to find Bo, but she actively fought to curb that idea. Bo would be able to care for her own self, and the doctor's duties were to the Ash first and foremost. Being torn by conflicting loyalties was an uncomfortable feeling, but she would endure. She had to. Resolve bolstered her courage and she began to make a mental list of things she would need before leaving the lab.

Pulling on her bottom lip while deep in thought, Lauren startled when she heard a muffled voice say, "Yer nancy-boy's a bloody coward."

She craned her neck to see over a monitor. The little sprite that Dyson and Hale had brought in for questioning stood in his cage, leaning against the bars staring disinterestedly at his fingernails. He picked something out from beneath one of them and flicked it away. Lauren wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"He's not a 'nancy-boy'," Lauren found herself distractedly saying. She hadn't thought to argue that he wasn't a coward.

"Blimey, I forgot he dreams of cattle trucking with the likes of you," he muttered. "Not that I blame the bloke." His gaze travelled hungrily over Lauren. "Mmm. Bang-tidy fer a human," he said, tiny hands gripping the bars as he stuffed his face in the space between them, his tongue wagging crudely. He wiggled his eyebrows at her and Lauren scrunched her face, incapable of completely ignoring his lascivious nature.

When it was obvious he couldn't goad further reaction out of her, he huffed and said, "Ye gonna release me?"

"I can't just let you go. If you hadn't noticed something is going on. It could be dangerous."

"Does the Morrigan know yer holding a dark fae hostage?"

The sprite was obviously unconcerned with whatever danger they might face. His cockiness irritated Lauren and her eyebrows knit together as she lifted her chin. Making a snap decision, she went to his cage, opened the door and grabbed the little man around the middle. She stuffed him deep into the pocket of her lab coat and used several straightened-out paperclips weaved through the fabric to button it up. As long as she was careful he would be unable to escape, yet relatively safe. She could hear him hollering angrily while he struggled.

By the time she had finished, James had reappeared struggling under the weight of the medical bags. They would not be able to maneuver quickly, that much was for certain, causing Lauren to wonder if the decision was wise.

She was about to tell him they should abandon two of the kits when the lab doors opened and Lachlan staggered in. He leaned on a mobile cart in an attempt to keep himself upright, but it wheeled away and he crashed to the floor. By the time Lauren reached his side, he had managed to make it to his knees.

"Don't move," she said, but he clutched her forearm as she bent forward and almost unbalanced her as he dragged himself partway up. It looked as though his body had been beaten by a blunt object. Somehow he had succeeded in protecting his face, but an arm hung uselessly at his side and his left foot was bent at an odd angle. It was any wonder he had made it here at all.

"Get—vials," he demanded.

Lauren searched his face, saw how ashen it was and snapped her fingers at James. He brought her several vials and laid them in her palm. Lachlan labored to breathe. Staring into Lauren's face, he opened his mouth wide and she heard a slippery ripping noise as multiple rows of glistening teeth unsheathed.

Understanding dawning, Lauren motioned for James again. "Shit. Get some rubber caps for these. Fit them all. Quickly, James," she commanded when he hesitated. "Lachlan let me help you," she whispered to the Ash who was clearly dying.

"Already dead," he croaked around the mass of teeth. "Need—need to take venom."

Lauren nodded. Lachlan may not have been her favorite person, but she still couldn't stand to see him suffer.

James came back with the caps and they hurriedly applied them to the vials. When that was done, Lauren gestured to James and put her lips close to his ear as she whispered another set of instructions. He nodded sharply and scrambled away, leaving Lauren with the dying Ash.

"Bo must—"

"Shh, Lachlan. We will make sure," Lauren assured him. He seemed to relax, the tension in his face easing slightly. She held one of the vials up. With one hand beneath his chin, she massaged the side of his face near the temporomandibular joint. Two fangs unhinged from their seat at the top of his mouth, extending down to protrude menacingly. She fitted the vial over them and the milky venom leaked in. She repeated the process until Lachlan's eyes rolled back and his head lolled. His breathing changed, becoming shallower than before.

"James, bring me those needles," Lauren said, her voice quivering. Her assistant was at her side immediately. He uncapped the first needle and offered it to her. After, he bent to Lachlan's arm and rolled his sleeve up. He used a rubber hose around the Ash's bicep to tie off the blood circulation and then swabbed the crook of his elbow with an alcohol wipe. Lauren nodded her thanks and injected the site with the first needle, filled with pentobarbital. Next she took the pancuronium bromide needle and injected that. Lastly, she accepted the potassium chloride.

"Go in peace," she whispered, and kissed Lachlan's brow before pushing the plunger. She held his wrist until she was certain his heartbeat had ceased.

When she released him and shifted away, there were tears glistening on her cheeks. James held his arms open for her and she stepped into them and allowed herself to be comforted by the closest thing to a friend in that moment. He patted her back gently, awkwardly, as she closed her eyes.

Seconds later she felt a brightness dance against her eyelids, but it was the whooshing sound that accompanied the light that made her stiffen. She opened her eyes and watched in horror as a blast of hissing, popping fire swirled above Lachlan's body.

"Holy fuck!" James exclaimed.

Lauren felt nauseous.

_Holy fuck_ was about to become the understatement of the century.

· x ·


End file.
